Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa stated on the 8th that a price increase for the hardware of the next-generation console, the 'Switch 2,' is an unavoidable measure to maintain a healthy profit structure.

President Furukawa explained the price hike and future business direction during a Q&A session at the fiscal year-end earnings briefing for March 2026. He clarified the reasoning, stating, "Market conditions, such as the sustained high prices of components—particularly memory—along with exchange rate fluctuations and oil price trends, are expected to persist in the mid-to-long term. Maintaining current pricing would significantly erode hardware profitability, potentially impacting long-term business operations."

The impact on production costs due to rising component prices and tariffs, as reflected in the current earnings forecast, amounts to approximately ¥100 billion (about ₩935 billion). President Furukawa added that if the cost increases were a short-term phenomenon, the company would have maintained prices through internal efforts like production efficiency; however, given the expectation that these headwinds will be prolonged, they made the difficult decision to pass a portion of the costs onto the retail price.

Since its launch in June 2025, the 'Switch 2' has seen exceptional success, selling 19.86 million units by the end of the last fiscal year, far exceeding the initial forecast of 15 million. While Nintendo has lowered its hardware sales forecast for the current fiscal year—the second year since launch—to 16.5 million units, it views the initial adoption rate positively.

To dispel concerns that a price hike might slow sales, the company is banking on its strong software lineup as a key weapon. President Furukawa emphasized, "The most important thing in the video game console business is to provide compelling experiences that make users feel the value exceeds the price." The strategy is to support user migration to the new device with high-quality titles, much like how 'Pokémon Pocopia,' which sold over 4 million copies worldwide within five weeks of its March release, drove hardware sales.

Nintendo plans to unveil a number of unannounced new titles in the second half of this year and aims to continue the long-term expansion of the 'Switch 2' install base with the release of the major new title 'Pokémon Wind & Wave' in 2027.