Nikkei: Nintendo Switch will sell for less than $250 in Japan

It’s almost a tradition: Nintendo teases a new product and Nikkei reports a key detail just before its official reveal. The Japanese paper successfully called the Nintendo DSi, key details of the 3DS and got pretty close to the Wii U’s launch price. Now, the paper is back with a ballpark price for the Nintendo Switch. According to Nikkei, Nintendo’s next device will sell for ¥25,000 in Japan — about $215 at today’s exchange rate.

It’s an attractive price prediction for the Nintendo Switch, but take it with a grain of salt: Nikki has a good track of scooping Nintendo announcements, but international pricing can be tricky. even if it’s true, international pricing probably won’t directly correlate to the exchange rate. The Wii U, for instance, sold for $299 at US launch, compared to ¥26,250 — which actually cost significantly more than US models due to a strong Yen. It’s better to take the rumored Japanese price as a ballpark figure: the Nintendo Switch will probably sell at or less than $250 in the US.

Nintendo is expected to officially announce additional details about the console, including price, on January 13th. Hopefully, the prediction holds true. After all, the Switch will have to compete with falling Xbox One and PlayStation 4 prices. That’s no small challenge.

Source: Nikkei