Nintendo has no plans for more Switch 2 price increases, Furukawa says

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said November 6, 2026, that there are currently no plans for further Switch 2 price increases, speaking alongside the company’s latest fiscal-quarter earnings.

Nintendo’s operating profit dropped 16 percent to 73.9 billion yen for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, while sales fell 15 percent, a bigger decline than Nintendo had anticipated. In the six months through September 30, 2026, net sales dropped 12.1 percent to 966.0 billion yen while operating profit climbed 49.1 percent to 216.5 billion yen and net profit gained 11 percent to 220.9 billion yen, helped by a first-quarter US tariff refund and strong sales of the latest Super Mario movie. Quarterly revenue of 448.2 billion yen and net profit of 73.5 billion yen missed analyst estimates.

Nintendo sold 6.49 million Switch 2 units for the six months ending September 30, 2026, a 37.4 percent drop from 10.36 million units in the same period a year earlier. Sales fell to 2.67 million units in the July to September 2026 quarter, a 41 percent decline from the same period last year and below the 3.82 million units sold in April to June 2026. Nintendo had predicted a second-year decline tied to price increases and ample launch stock.

Switch 2 lifetime hardware sales hit 26.35 million units by September 30, 2026, topping the original Switch’s launch-aligned pace across the first six quarters. The original Switch has sold 157.2 million units lifetime, leaving the Switch 2 with difficult year-over-year comparisons in year two. A launch-aligned comparison by VGC shows Switch 2 leading the original Switch and PS5 by more than six million units, although those earlier consoles faced supply shortages.

The Switch 2 launched June 5, 2025 at $449.99 and became the fastest-selling console ever. Nintendo lifted the US price of the Switch 2 from $449.99 to $499.99 in September 2026, also citing escalating memory costs and tariffs.

Furukawa said Nintendo aims to keep retail prices as low as possible, beginning with production efficiency and then absorbing costs it cannot fully offset. He said Nintendo procured raw materials, notably memory chips, to keep production stable and increase inventory and has secured enough memory to meet demand at current pricing. Nintendo has not disclosed the size of its secured memory supply or how long the agreements run. Furukawa added that Nintendo would have to consider price revisions if it cannot absorb cost effects through its own efforts over the medium to long term.

Prices usually drop as manufacturing gets cheaper, but memory chips, AI demand, trade rules, fuel costs and currency rates are blocking cuts, so sellers may turn to deals or bundles instead. Sony and Microsoft also raised console prices during the same period amid the broader memory-cost squeeze. Nintendo insisted in February 2026 that no imminent Switch 2 price hike was on the way, then raised prices across multiple regions a few months later, including the UK toward summer’s end. Reuters said the Switch 2 price hike explained much of the recent quarter’s sales decline.

The dedicated video game platform segment dropped 15.3 percent to $5.7 billion for the six months through September 30, 2026, because of reduced hardware output. Switch 2 software shipments for the April to September half climbed 18.8 percent to 24.49 million units from 20.62 million, taking lifetime Switch 2 software sales to 73.21 million units. Switch 2 games sold 15.04 million copies in the quarter that ended September 30, 2026, while the original Switch moved only 610,000 games.

Mario Kart World leads Switch 2 software sales with 16.48 million copies, ahead of Donkey Kong Bananza at 5.05 million, Splatoon Raiders at 2.42 million, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave at 1.34 million and Star Fox at 1.17 million. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream moved 8.81 million units and Rhythm Heaven Groove moved 2.89 million units toward original Switch software totals, while original Switch hardware shipments dropped 32.7 percent to 1.27 million units and software for the older system rose 6.8 percent to 65.73 million units.

Nintendo kept its forecast of 16.5 million Switch 2 console sales for the fiscal year ending in March 2027. For the May 8 outlook, Nintendo set net sales at 2.05 trillion yen, operating profit at 370.0 billion yen and net profit at 310.0 billion yen, with 100.0 billion yen allocated to higher component prices and tariffs. Nintendo said it still expects 3 percent profit growth for the rest of the fiscal year. Nintendo scheduled an online briefing for November 6, 2026, on first-half results and corporate management policy.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake arrived in November 2026 with a visual overhaul and a dedicated jump button, and Nintendo shares jumped 8.13 percent on November 5, 2026 after the remake and the financial report. Investors remain worried about the memory situation and a shortage of high-profile Switch 2 titles this year, even as they hoped the remake would boost holiday sales.

Serkan Toto of Kantan Games told CNBC that the remake is Nintendo’s only real blockbuster this fiscal year, with more big games needed next fiscal year, while Kazunori Ito of Morningstar said investors have cooled on Switch 2 in its second year and called the profit decline expected, if earlier than anticipated. Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves are confirmed for Switch 2 in 2027, and fans expect the next mainline Super Mario game on Switch 2 in 2027.