Illustrations by Alex Castro / The Verge
Nintendo’s Switch console won’t be added to the list of price-hiked tech products impacted by inflation. The company gave a statement to Eurogamer, reiterating what company president Shuntaro Furukawa told shareholders in June, saying it had “no plans to increase the trade price of its hardware.”
Here’s the full statement shared with Eurogamer:
“As our president Mr Furukawa stated at the 82nd Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in June:
‘While we cannot comment on pricing strategies, we currently do not have any plans to change the price of our hardware due to inflation or increased procurement costs in each country. We will determine our future pricing strategies through careful and continued deliberations.’
“While the final price to consumers is always determined by retailers, as Mr Furukawa stated, Nintendo has no plans to increase the trade price of its hardware.”
This comes at the tail end of a week that saw a surprise price increase on Sony’s PlayStation 5 console in several regions, including the UK, Europe, Japan, China, Australia, Mexico, and Canada. Earlier this month, the $100 price increase of Meta’s Quest 2 VR headset went into effect.
Last week, my colleague Dan Seifert wrote about how the impact of inflation on tech products is already here but is generally harder to spot compared to more widespread price hikes at the grocery store. He’s still right about that — many companies are slightly bumping up the cost of new products and, in rare instances, for preexisting products alike. Whether products are selling at a loss or not, it’s difficult to know what gadgets might impact next. But for now, that won’t include Nintendo’s Switch.