Nintendo’s insanely popular Switch console is no doubt going to end up under a ton of Christmas trees this holiday season after serving as a favorite target of Black Friday and other holiday shoppers. Almost three years after the console’s introduction in early 2017, the Switch has impressively helped Nintendo keep pace with the latest console offerings from rivals Microsoft and Sony, by giving fans something that doesn’t match those rival consoles in terms of specs but builds instead on what Nintendo has always offered: A solid gaming foundation for a lineup of supremely fun first-party titles.
All of which should make it no surprise, really, that during a question and answer session held in tandem with Nintendo’s presentation of its latest financial results, company president Shuntaro Furukawa broke this expected news: The Switch isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Nor is any price cut in the cards anytime soon, either. Furukawa’s two key points, made basically in the same breath, were that Nintendo wants to maintain the Switch at the current price point “for as long as possible.” This addresses both the console’s price tag as well as the company’s intent to, you know, actually keep it around in order to maintain that price ($300 for the standard version, and $200 for a “Lite” variant).
“Because profitability can fluctuate depending on quantities produced in the future, we’re not estimating any specific decrease in cost,” Furukawa said during his remarks. “We want to improve profitability by increasing the number of units sold and selling the Nintendo Switch family of hardware for as long as possible.”
https://twitter.com/BryanCook/status/1193356237045411840
This will no doubt come as not-so-happy news for shoppers who’d hoped for a holiday-related price cut for the console (separate from all the games and accessories deals you can find). That Nintendo seems resolute about sticking to its guns here means fans should be optimistic about the console’s near-term future, though, since a price cut would be precisely the wrong move to make if you expect sales to remain high and to climb higher. Indeed, the console should have at least three years or so left, following the traditional five years (give or take) that consoles tend to remain popular and relevant.
Likewise, Furukawa also stressed earlier this year that Nintendo would be cranking out “a continuous stream of exciting titles,” which is one more reason to expect the Switch to have a robust future for a while to come.
