A Nintendo Switch 2 Price Hike Is Almost Certainly Coming Soon

Every single computer uses memory to some degree, and video game consoles are no exception. If you’ve been paying attention to the ongoing RAM shortage and the knock-on effect for small-scale chips, desktops, and laptops, you’re probably wondering when the other shoe will drop for consoles. Sorry to say, it’s likely coming soon. The first company that will have to make a hard decision on console prices will be none other than Nintendo with its Switch 2.

The RAM shortage is hitting Nintendo right where it hurts: its stock price. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Nintendo’s shares fell by around 4.7% over concerns about memory pricing—approximately $14 billion in its valuation. Bloomberg, citing market analysis firm TrendForce, said that the Switch 2’s 12GB RAM modules now cost 41% more in this current quarter. The game system’s 256GB of internal storage also became 8% pricier to source, and that’s not factoring in the optional (but inevitably necessary) microSD Express cards owners need to add additional storage for big-sized games.

See Nintendo Switch 2 at Amazon

Semiconductor companies that make memory chips, including DRAM (dynamic random access memory) and NAND flash storage, are pivoting hard to supplying AI data centers. AI companies are building out AI processing at such a rapid rate that their excessive demand for memory is now far more lucrative than supplying any kind of consumer-end product. The buildout of AI processing centers has proved so lucrative for AI companies that one of the major memory component makers, Micron, killed its consumer-facing brand, Crucial. The other major players, Samsung and SK Hynix, are refocusing current memory manufacturing for AI companies as well.

Nintendo could also hike the cost of Switch 2 accessories like Joy-Con 2 controllers even more. © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

Every major consumer computing company is in the same boat. Major PC suppliers are expecting to raise prices next year. In August, Nintendo hiked costs on nearly all its Switch 2 accessories and bumped up the cost of the original Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED, but kept the Switch 2 out of the line of fire. This was due to the cost of President Donald Trump’s boneheaded tariff scheme. Nintendo likely didn’t want to threaten its sales numbers with any first-year price hikes on one of its most expensive devices to date.

Switch 2 teardowns revealed the handheld makes use of RAM and storage sourced from SK Hynix. The memory maker holds around 38% of the world’s DRAM market share. And yet, reports citing talks with investors show the company is converting its DRAM production over to AI-centric memory. Even if SK Hynix makes strides to build out memory production, the RAM shortage will continue long into 2026. Prices will only continue to go up in that time as the shortage continues.

Nintendo’s Switch 2 has proved a smash hit since it launched in June. The legacy Japanese gaming company reported it had sold 10.36 million units worldwide through Sept. 30. That put the Switch 2 on pace to outsell the original Switch in its first year, despite costing $150 more than the first handheld iteration back in 2017. Nintendo said it expects to ship 19 million units before March 2026, which is the end of the company’s fiscal year.

The Switch 2 relies on specific Express-level microSD cards, which are also getting more expensive with the ongoing storage shortage. © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo

Nintendo will have to put on a magic show either way. If it wants to end the year on a high note, it may not raise prices until after March. In that case, Nintendo will have to distract the market from the exploding cost of RAM. If it raises prices before March, it will need to make some other kind of push to reach its fabled 19 million unit marker, perhaps with more game bundles like its recent $500 packs with Mario Kart World and Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Big titles like Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, Resident Evil: Requiem, Mario Tennis Fever, and several more indie games are launching in January and February of next year, but none of these titles could be called system sellers by themselves.

Unless memory prices suddenly depreciate (analysts expect they may not come down until 2027 or even later) or the AI bubble bursts (who knows at this point), there are few scenarios where gaming doesn’t get more expensive than it already is.

See Nintendo Switch 2 at Amazon