Nintendo Could Lose Money On Every Switch 2 Sale

Summary: Analysts believe Nintendo may sell the Switch 2 at a loss, while prepping as many Switch 2 units in Vietnam as possible to ship those to the US.

The Switch 2 is most certainly going to be a huge success for Nintendo, but it may also not make as much money from it as one might think, according to analysts who believe Nintendo may sell each unit of the console at a loss.

Tariffs imposed by President Trump would be a major factor in this potential result. Nintendo officially announced the Switch 2 on April 2, 2025, then the Trump administration announced the new tariffs that same week. Shortly after the new tariffs were announced, Nintendo delayed the pre-orders for the Switch 2 in the US and in Canada.

Nintendo still hasn’t announced a new pre-order date, leading to some speculation that Nintendo may raise the price of the console in the US. According to analysts who spoke to Bloomberg, however, A price increase may not happen. Instead, Nintendo may sell the Switch 2 at a loss, choosing to eat the cost as opposed to passing that cost onto the consumer.

Nintendo might sell the Switch 2 at a loss, even with the 90-day tariff pause

Although the new tariffs are on pause for 90 days in most regions, they’re still in place in China. In fact, they were increased for China while they were paused basically everywhere else. Analysts now think that Nintendo is preparing to make as many Switch 2 units as it can in Vietnam and ship those to the US from there. As Vietnam’s tariff will be at 10 percent compared to the 125 percent in China.

According to Bloomberg, who spoke with analyst Hideki Yasuda from Toyo Securities, Nintendo would still be selling the Switch 2 at a loss. “We believe the Switch 2’s bill of materials is around $400, meaning Nintendo would still be selling consoles at a loss in the US with the 10 percent tariff — but the loss would be something Nintendo would be able to absorb,” Yasuda said.

Nintendo could increase the price if Vietnam’s tariff goes up

While Vietnam’s tariff is currently sitting at 10 percent, Trump’s initial tariff increase for the country before the 90-day pause was 46 percent. If/when the tariff increases back to this amount, it’s possible that Nintendo could increase the price of the Switch 2 in the US. Another analyst, Bernstein’s Robin Zhu, also believes that Nintendo will keep the price at $450 while the tariff is at 10 percent. However, once that goes up, he believes Nintendo will hike the price.

Stating that the cost of the Switch 2 could go up by $50 to $100 in the US.