Nintendo listening to what consumers expect from Switch's price, won't be sold for a loss

Nintendo isn’t ready to divulge how much Switch will cost. However, president Tatsumi Kamishima did say today that the company is listening to what consumers expect when setting price.

[PhoenixUp]

For this level of tech and them not wanting to sell it at a loss, I'm guessing the price will be $350-$400

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I'm thinking the same, but there's also something else to consider.
Tell me what you think, Phoenix...
The Switch has fewer moving parts thanks to relying on cartridges.
It's also quite a bit smaller, meaning less spent on retail packaging.
Could this equal a lower price?

[deafdani]

To add to this, it's even possible that the Switch doesn't even have a touch screen at all, which could also help lower its price.

If it's just around Wii U-power level, I think it's entirely possible for it to be $300 while still being profitable for Nintendo, even. Of course, Nintendo would announce a price cut for the Wii U if that's the case, as not to undermine their new system.

[freshslicepizza]

the price will be very tricky. too cheap and people wonder how good it will be as a console. too expensive and they risk alineating the portable market.

[rainslacker]

The screen alone probably mitigates a lot of those other savings. Internal storage memory costs more than hard drives, so overall, it's probably a wash.

$300-400 is probably a sound starting point depending on the actual specs of the system.

[bmf7364]

My concern is moreover which version of Nvidia's Tegra chip the final product is using. Devkits were confirmed to be using Nvidia's X1 Maxwell CPU, a 2015 chip used in $200 SHIELD TV's. Nvidia already has their Pascal version of Tegra in circulation(in car systems, granted), and to anyone following Nvidia's track record, Pascal is vastly more powerful than its Maxwell predecessor. The difference maker for the Switch's long-term and full capabiliy is literally a single year difference in CPU age.

[Teh_Leviathan]

Retail packaging isn't gonna bring the price down by all that much.

@deafdani The Switch has been confirmed to have a multi-touch screen.

[PhoenixUp]

Smaller tech usually means more expenses are made to get it to that size. Especially when it's supposed to have hardware parity with PS4 & XO then $350 is the lowest it could start at for Nintendo to make profit say one. Unless Nintendo cuts a lot of corners like they typically do to retain a lower cost

[WickedLester]

But see, thats what doesnt make sense to me. Its not like PS4/X1 tech is bleeding edge. Its already 3 year old tech and even back when they launched they were considered outdated. I dont see how in 2017 a performance equivalent thats in a tablet would be soooo expensive.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

@Lester
How much of a difference does a mere 3 years make towards the price of those parts, though?
I have this gut feeling that shrinking them down would balance out the fact that they're older, limiting the amount of money saved...

[IamTylerDurden1]

I honestly expect it to be pricey. The screen and dock make it a more expensive item, if it was just the handheld i'd say $250-299, but it's not. $350-399 is right on the money. However, $299 would do wonders for sales. If this thing is $400 then it has no chance.

[PhoenixUp]

@ wicked

That doesn't mean much since it could still be sold for a higher price since it's portable.

- PSP released 4 years after PS2, which it has hardware parity with, yet still was priced for $250 at launch.
- 3DS was released 11 years after GameCube, which it has hardware parity with, yet still was priced at $250 at launch.
- Vita was released 5 years after PS3, which it has hardware parity with, yet still was priced at $250 at launch.

This doesn't even get into how Nintendo for the last decade has sold underpowered console for a higher cost than it's worth.

- Wii was not as powerful as the original Xbox, could not render any game in 720p like the original Xbox, did not have even an 8GB HDD like the original Xbox, did not play DVD movies like the original Xbox, yet somehow still sold for $250 when it was released.

-Wii U does not have a big HDD, no DVD or Blu-Ray movie playback, an Ethernet port, or an optical out like the PS3 had yet still sold for $350 when it was released.

With that in mind it's clear that Nintendo will do something controversial and leave out certain features that we take for granted on PS4'& XO in order to cut costs, yet still sell it at higher price because it's portable and they want to make profit on day one.

[WickedLester]

@monkeyman,

The consoles themselves may be 3 years old but the tech inside it is much older. At the time of launch, equivalent tech inside PS4/X1 was being put into laptops. I don't think it's unrealistic to expect that same tech 3 years later to fit into a tablet at a reasonable price. We're not talking bleeding edge tech here. This performance level has been around a while now. 299.99 should be perfectly reasonable for a tablet that's performance is within "spitting distance" of PS4/X1.

[IanTH]

Here's my thinking, and I don't feel like I've seen many talk about it. We have precedent to take an educated guess in the form of...Shield products! The Switch is kind of a mash between Shield Tab & TV when you think about it.

An X1 based Switch at $300 (perhaps less with some finagling) seems doable - it is a nearly 2 year old chip. Let's look at the history of Nvidia's tablet line. K1 based Shields launched at $299 & dropped to $199 for the latter part of their life. We're in X1 land now, and our only comp is the Shield TV. $199 base price, $299 with expanded storage & controller - no price drop yet, but with little competition in the space they haven't had to.

If the Switch uses the X1, $299 seems quite doable - price between a launch K1 to latter half K1 (alongside some cost-cutting nips & tucks) ended up a sizable $100 difference. Fair to see this as a precedent on acceptable operating cost price drops on their matured chips. Assuming a Shield-matching 1080p screen, and adding the base station & Joy-Con controller as standard while hedging Nintendo's potential for higher Economies of Scale to lower unit prices...$249 might even allow Big N to break even (and note they didn't say "profit", just "not sold for a loss").

If it uses the new P1, harder to guess but at launch the Shield tab using new-to-market K1's cost $299. The X1 Shield TV base is $199 and was even at launch. Using those as our rules of thumb, a modest resolution touch screen + base + controller as added costs...$299 would seem the cheapest Ninty could get away with to break even including a top-of-the-line P1, but $349 with a game seems more plausible.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

$249 is instant buy territory

[IamTylerDurden1]

The problem is the handheld is not a cheap item to manufacture. It's basically a 6.5in smartphone that can run Skyrim HD. High end Smartphones are $500 or more, plus you have the dock which is actually more than a dock. The Switch would be a steal at $299, but i can understand why it might be $350-399.

[NXSwitch]

150-250 is Nin past classic price that they always done so if Switch is price that way then we have a winner!

[wampdog29]

Why does everyone say it's using an X1? Nvidia would have said that if it were using it, but they didn't. They specifically said the Switch is using a custom Tegra chip using their GTX architecture. We can't go by the price or performance of the X1 as it isn't an X1.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

$250-300 is reasonable as this is the price majority of the people are saying.

[Name Last Name]

Not gonna happen.

[InTheZoneAC]

those same people wanted all the VR to be $200 as well, let them stay under their rocks

[Ult iMate]

nVidia Shield Portable costs $200 on Amazon. So with newer nVidia mobile tech and bigger screen $300 for Switch seems reasonable.
New 3DS XL also costs $200.

[WickedLester]

Yeah, I'm thinking 299.99 will be the base price. There might be a 399.99 bundle with a game and maybe a pro controller.

[IamTylerDurden1]

$250 is a dream...

[InTheZoneAC]

$350 for base model with that weird switch controller
$400 for switch pro controller+zelda breath of the wild

[NXSwitch]

$500 for the server attachment upgrade bundle they have on the patient.

[iofhua]

$300 for base model with no games?

[Antifan]

Xbox and PS4 is sold at $300. So i expect NS to be $300. Anything more is a fail.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Horrible logic. Xb1 was $500 at launch and Switch is giving a 6.5in handheld and a home console, there is more to manufacturing.

[1nsomniac]

Haha, how can Nintendo be listening to consumers on price for the Switch when they are refusing to tell anybody the specs of the thing.

That's just stupid blatant PR BS!

[Hoffmann]

Would buy it for a 99 bucks price. Not one dollar more since it has so few games coming - most likely.

[Sirk7x]

You can hardly get a decent phone for $100. As far as mobile technology goes, this chip is supposedly very modern.

[Hoffmann]

The thing is..I need a phone every couple of years. But I don't need a third gaming platform for 300 bucks.

[Geekman]

I expect all my consoles to have 20+ games coming the second it's announced.

[rainslacker]

I'd go up to $200 for a day one buy. $300-400 I'd probably have to wait for the games.

While I'd like to say this is a nice upgrade to the 3DS, and likely the Vita, the actual size of the machine doesn't really make it practical for my general hand held needs. While I don't mind the size overall, nor would I even mind it as a home console, anything more than $200 makes it a wait and see.

I'm sure it'll be more than $200, and the tech in it is probably more than that, so I'm not going to criticize if it falls in the $300-400 range....it just won't be for me unless they have some really compelling early launch games.

[MilkMan]

"Nintendo listening to what consumers expect from Switch's price, won't be sold for a loss"
if it sells at all.

[jonivtec]

I hope they hear.. .we want power to!!!

[Geekman]

*too

[rainslacker]

Pretty sure we're past the point where they would have had to hear that.

[DivineAssault]

$300 if its a 1080p console with minimal media functionalities while docked..

[blawren4]

I think we need to stop comparing this to a smart phone or tablet. The switch will be highly specialized, not having to deal with as many functions, nor have to pay royalties to all of the software developers that a tablet for phone might have for each and every pre-installed app/function. it won't need to be able to make calls or text, probably won't have wireless outside of wifi, won't function as your cars GPS, won't need to function as your music player, etc. without those functions, the costs to produce can be greatly reduced if only the essentials are there. Just like a PC of equivalent power costs much more than a gaming console does because it is asked to do more and spread power over multii functions. That being said, I'm expecting $299-$349. I agree that $399 would be a huge problem.