Nintendo Switch Prices Rise in U.S.; Switch 2 Console Prices Remain Unchanged – News

Nintendo announced on Friday that it is raising the price of the original Nintendo Switch, Lite, and OLED consoles, as well as Switch accessories in the United States “based on market conditions.” The company is also raising the prices for certain Nintendo Switch 2 accessories, amiibo, and the Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo product.

The price of the Nintendo Switch 2 console and its games will remain the same. However, the company noted that “price adjustments may be necessary in the future.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to adjust current global tariffs and increase them for multiple countries on Thursday. The new tariffs are scheduled to take effect on August 7.

Nintendo had previously announced on June 30 that prices for Switch systems, games, and products would increase in Canada on August 1 “based on market conditions.” Tariffs increased from 25% to 35% in Canada.

The Switch console has sold 153.10 million units as of June 30. This number includes sales for the Nintendo Switch, Lite, and OLED consoles. Switch software sales amount to 1.415 billion units.

Nintendo launched the Switch console in March 2017.

Nintendo released the new Switch 2 console worldwide on June 5.

The company delayed pre-orders for Switch 2 in the U.S. from the initial April 9 date to April 24 “to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions.”

Background on New U.S. Tariffs

Trump announced on April 2 a baseline tariff of 10% on global imports to the United States would start on April 5. He also announced self-described “reciprocal” tariffs would start against many countries on April 9. Vietnam and Cambodia would receive some of the highest additional tariff rates at 46% and 49%, respectively, while Japan and China would receive 24% and 34%, respectively. The president then suspended tariffs for almost all countries except China, which he continued raising to an effective 145% (including tariffs levied prior to the current administration) over a number of days, with China responding with an escalation of its own tariffs to the United States that reached 125%. On May 12, the U.S. and China agreed to lower tariffs for 90 days. The U.S. cut the effective tariff rate on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, and China cut the tariff rate on U.S. goods from 125% to 10%.

The White House posted a list of products exempted from the additional tariffs after the April 2 announcement. That list includes “printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter,” which indicates books such as manga and other comic books physically printed in Asia would be exempted from the additional tariffs. The U.S. administration has since clarified other goods would be excluded from these particular tariffs, including steel and aluminum products, cars and car products, certain critical resources, smartphones, computers, and various electronic parts.

The new U.S. tariffs would also affect toys, figures, and other merchandise produced in China, Vietnam, Japan, and elsewhere in Asia.

The U.S. administration noted that it can raise tariffs further or lower them, depending on how countries respond. The current situation on the U.S.’s new protectionist tariff policy is extremely fluid and volatile, and has seen changes and clarifications almost every day.

Source: Nintendo