Nintendo Switch 2 May See Price Jumps Due to New 25% US Tariffs
The new Nintendo Switch 2 launch in the U.S. might hit a snag because of a planned 25% tax on all goods from Japan, which President Donald Trump has said will start on August 1. A past delay in the game's U.S. pre-orders is seen as an early clue that such trade rules could mess things up.
Warnings and Guesses from Experts
Nintendo pushed back U.S. pre-orders for the Switch 2 from April 9 to April 24, blaming likely tariffs. Even though the company went ahead with plans for a June 5 launch, which sold 3.5 million units around the world in just four days, holding back pre-orders for such a hot item hints that more issues might come.
Professor Yusuke Koyama from the Shibaura Institute of Technology in Japan told ABC News that the tariffs will for sure hit hard. "If the tariffs are set, and it's known they'll last a long time, prices will have to go up," he said.
Big Strains on a Global Production Line
Nintendo has more to worry about than just Japan taxes. Professor Koyama said that Nintendo Switch 2 consoles are mainly made in China and other Southeast Asian places. This makes the products open to other U.S. taxes too. Nintendo moved some of its making out of China in 2019 while Trump was in power, but Koyama stressed that changing making sites is not easy.
Might Shift More to Digital Sales
While items like consoles and games on cartridges would face tariff impacts, games you download wouldn't. Professor Koyama thinks this might boost the already growing trend of buying games online in the U.S., especially if hardware and game prices go up. "In the U.S., there's already a lot of game downloading, so I think that will just get bigger," he added.
Will People Still Buy
Even with possible price hikes, people think Nintendo's strong place in the market will help it get through the tough times. Koyama thinks people will keep buying Nintendo stuff because there are games you can only get there. "Nintendo has games you don't see on other PCs or PlayStations, and that's why the games are liked a lot," he said. "I think people will still buy."
Bigger Look at US Trade Rules
The new taxes on Japan are part of a bigger trade plan from Trump. On July 7, Trump put 25% taxes on both Japan and South Korea, set to start on August 1. He has also named or warned of taxes on many other places, including the European Union and India, all to cut down the U.S. trade gap. Hideo Kumano, a top economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, told ABC News that all firms doing work all over the world will feel it, and some Japanese tech firms have already shared plans to change their business.