Nintendo’s sending almost all of its Vietnam-built Switch 2s to the US to build a stockpile
Yesterday’s 90-day reciprocal tariff reduction doesn’t leave Nintendo — or any console maker for that matter — completely in the clear. But it does give the entertainment juggernaut more time to stockpile Switch 2s in the US.
According to reporting by Bloomberg, that’s exactly what Nintendo’s been doing.
More than 90% of Nintendo’s Vietnam console production went to the US in February. That month, one of Nintendo’s top three assembly companies shipped more devices to the US than in the prior six months combined. In previous months, the majority of Nintendo consoles built in Vietnam were exported elsewhere.
About a third of Switch 2s are built in Vietnam, a country that before yesterday’s pause had been dinged with a 46% tariff by the Trump administration. Now, that levy has been lowered to 10% until July, and Nintendo should conceivably be able to build up its US inventory at a lower (but still elevated) rate ahead of its June 5 release.
“If the tariffs stay at 10%, Nintendo probably keeps pricing at $450 and just takes the hit on margin,” Bernstein analyst Robin Zhu told Bloomberg. Video game consoles from Sony and Microsoft are typically sold at a loss, with the companies making it up with game sales and accessories. Fittingly, Nintendo has already established an industry-high base game price point for the Switch 2 with its $80 “Mario Kart World.”
More than 90% of Nintendo’s Vietnam console production went to the US in February. That month, one of Nintendo’s top three assembly companies shipped more devices to the US than in the prior six months combined. In previous months, the majority of Nintendo consoles built in Vietnam were exported elsewhere.
About a third of Switch 2s are built in Vietnam, a country that before yesterday’s pause had been dinged with a 46% tariff by the Trump administration. Now, that levy has been lowered to 10% until July, and Nintendo should conceivably be able to build up its US inventory at a lower (but still elevated) rate ahead of its June 5 release.
“If the tariffs stay at 10%, Nintendo probably keeps pricing at $450 and just takes the hit on margin,” Bernstein analyst Robin Zhu told Bloomberg. Video game consoles from Sony and Microsoft are typically sold at a loss, with the companies making it up with game sales and accessories. Fittingly, Nintendo has already established an industry-high base game price point for the Switch 2 with its $80 “Mario Kart World.”
