- Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has stated that the company is closely monitoring the RAM shortage affecting the industry.
- Furukawa emphasized that hardware profitability is influenced by component procurement, cost reductions, and the effects of tariffs and exchange rates.
- While he refrained from commenting on potential price changes for the Switch 2, he confirmed, "There is no immediate impact on earnings, but it is something we must monitor closely."
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has addressed the recent surge in RAM prices, confirming that the company is actively tracking the situation.
In an interview with Kyoto Shimbun (translated via VGC), Furukawa discussed the challenges posed by the Nintendo Switch 2, which has a lower profit margin compared to its predecessor. He noted that the company is keeping a close watch on the memory shortage and the rising tariffs.
Furukawa stated, "Hardware profitability depends on factors like component procurement conditions, cost reductions through mass production, and the impact of exchange rates and tariffs."
He added, "It’s difficult to generalize. Fundamentally, we aim to address this by advancing component procurement over the medium to long term."
Despite the ongoing concerns regarding RAM shortages, largely driven by the demand from AI data centers, Furukawa reassured that the situation is not expected to impact the company immediately.
"We procure from suppliers based on our medium- to long-term business plans, but the current memory market is very volatile,” he explained. "There is no immediate impact on earnings, but it is something we must monitor closely."
When asked about the potential pricing implications for the Nintendo Switch 2, Furukawa referred to it as a "hypothetical" scenario.
Prior to the Switch 2's launch last year, reports indicated that consoles in the US could face a 145% tariff, which could further increase the console's price, already set at $449.99 / £395.99.
At that time, pre-orders in the US and Canada experienced delays, yet the console achieved remarkable success, selling over 10 million units by late 2025.
However, when questioned about the potential impact of higher tariffs imposed by the US on Japan, Furukawa indicated that Nintendo anticipates a negative outcome of several tens of billion yen due to these tariffs, confirming that they have already seen a corresponding impact in the first half of the year.
"While it’s difficult to accurately gauge the future impact, our basic policy is to recognize tariffs as a cost and pass them on to prices as much as possible, not just in the US," he stated.
"On the other hand, this is a crucial period for our game business as we promote the adoption of new hardware and maintain the momentum of our platforms. We are working on this while carefully considering the situation."
