But President of Nintendo of America Doug Bowser has told The Verge and Wired that these previous tariffs — that is, prior to the the Trump Administration's new international tariffs on goods from across the world was announced on the 2nd April 2025 — "were not factored into the price itself."
With the cost of the console a bit on the higher end, Bowser detailed many of the consoles new features to The Verge, including the bigger screen, powerful specs and hardware, the Joy-Con — which can be used as mice — GameChat, and so on.
He reiterated that Nintendo wants the device to be "approachable" and that consumers will embrace it as part of "their overall entertainment experiences", while understanding there is "longevity" to the console. All of these factors have gone into pricing considerations.
In response to the new tariffs specifically, which include a 46% increase on goods from Vietnam (where the Switch 2 console is manufactured) and 24% increase on Japanese goods (where Switch 2 cartridges are made), Bowser told The Verge that “The news is fresh, and like many companies right now, we are actively assessing what the impact may be."
These interviews took place on 3rd April, and as we all know, Nintendo of America announced that pre-orders in North America would be pushed back "in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions." The console is still due to launch on 5th June 2025, but whether that $449.99 price tag sticks remains to be seen.
In the weeks prior to the Switch 2's big bash, analysts were already expressing concerns about the cost of physical media, and with US pre-orders on hold right now, and Nintendo's shares dropping, we're working in extremely uncertain times.
What do you think of Doug Bowser's response? Are you surprised at the news? Let us know down below.
