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Switch OLED upgrades reportedly cost Nintendo "around $10 more per unit"

MiguelItUp

Member
More than business. Nintendo is the greediest of the 3 by far. Especially with there games almost never going on sale.
Eh, I'm one of the people that refuses to believe that any major company isn't greedy. They're all greedy. I mean, they need and want your money. If anything, some just show it differently than others. But the greed is still there, they're a big business, and a big name.

Doesn't matter what company your swear everything to. They want your money, and don't care about anything else.

Nintendo is just flexing the, "We can do this, and people will still buy it." thing. Well, and you know what? They're right. Just like Disney. Just like Sony. Just like Microsoft. Etc.
 
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Tams

Gold Member
Well economics is not my field of work but iirc the earnings reports showed an R&D increase, it was one reason people expected bigger upgrades. But it’s not just that but all of it. The actual components are pocket money unless there is a shortage, but every little physical change means new designs, new casing, move some stuff around and you need a new curcuit board, new prototype, new tests, new certifications, production line changes, etc etc etc. It’s a whole new product regarding the manufacturing process, marketing, boxes and packaging. At the end they try to split up the totals over expected X number units sold for expected X years with X percent plus at the end.
People grossly underestimate how much things like a new plastic mould (for a machine in a production line) costs. Those things are not cheap; ask any relevant Kickstarter.

And of course they are making a very decent increased profit from it. No shit. Considering gaming is their only real business though, they really need to make the most of the good times. They don't have the resources that Microsoft and Sony have to fall back on.

Is the OLED version still a decent price? Yes, it is. So why should we as consumers care?
 
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6502

Member
$10 Component cost
$40 for the Nintendo difference

Value that can be celebrated with everyone's 4th switch purchase.
 

Zannegan

Member
Component cost is never the total cost (BOM for the PS4 was well under $400, but they still lost money on each one at launch). That said, I have no doubt they'll be making a tidy profit on these, beyond even the normal Switch, which will likely remain true even after it drops to normal Switch prices.
 

iHaunter

Member
Eh, I'm one of the people that refuses to believe that any major company isn't greedy. They're all greedy. I mean, they need and want your money. If anything, some just show it differently than others. But the greed is still there, they're a big business, and a big name.

Doesn't matter what company your swear everything to. They want your money, and don't care about anything else.

Nintendo is just flexing the, "We can do this, and people will still buy it." thing. Well, and you know what? They're right. Just like Disney. Just like Sony. Just like Microsoft. Etc.
Well in general sense of course. Every companies MAIN goal is to stay in business and expand. Sure.
 
That's why a Switch pro was always doubtful.

A true Switch pro would be $600. And that doesn't work.
It's too much for the target audience, but they can't make it less without sacrificing profits which is also unacceptable.

You have to hand it to Nintendo. When most other companies went with the Printer model (make the hardware cheap, with the software/ink being the real money maker), they have had tremendous success selling expensive printers with the most expensive ink on the market.
The Steam Deck is essentially what a Switch Pro should have been power-wise and it starts at $400 for the 64GB version, that's twice the amount of storage that a Switch comes with. If Nintendo really cared enough, they could get a Switch Pro for $350 especially since they would be producing units at much higher volumes than the Steam Deck, which would further reduce costs.
 
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NinjaBoiX

Member
I traded my OG Switch in for a series S (it was a sweet deal) on the idea that the new switch would be a worthwhile upgrade.

It’s not, so I just bought a switch lite instead as I barely played it on the tv anyway.

I’m not paying over 50% more for a heavier, more cumbersome switch with a wobbly controller solution just for a better screen.

I’ll wait for an ACTUAL revision thanks very much.
 

Fbh

Member
The Steam Deck is essentially what a Switch Pro should have been power-wise and it starts at $400 for the 64GB version, that's twice the amount of storage that a Switch comes with. If Nintendo really cared enough, they could get a Switch Pro for $350 especially since they would be producing units at much higher volumes than the Steam Deck, which would further reduce costs.

I'm not saying Nintendo couldn't make a device with the same specs for $400 or less.
I'm saying they won't do it because they are very profit focused, and as such won't release new hardware at a price point where the are making little to no profit from it.

Companies like Sony, MS or in this case Valve are willing to lower their profits from hardware sales in order to offer the lowest price possible and get as many units out there, their strategy isn't to make money from hardware but from software and services on said hardware, like most modern printers. But Nintendo isn't like that, they want to make decent money from the hardware and the software. And who can blame them looking at their success with the Switch and Wii.
 

mcjmetroid

Member
Eh, I'm one of the people that refuses to believe that any major company isn't greedy. They're all greedy. I mean, they need and want your money. If anything, some just show it differently than others. But the greed is still there, they're a big business, and a big name.

Doesn't matter what company your swear everything to. They want your money, and don't care about anything else.

Nintendo is just flexing the, "We can do this, and people will still buy it." thing. Well, and you know what? They're right. Just like Disney. Just like Sony. Just like Microsoft. Etc.
Yeeeeees but as customers we get to point out when we're not happy with something.

That's how this works.

Yes if I put on my business exac suit, learned Japanese and went to a Nintendo shareholder meeting I would think like you..

But no I'm a customer and will bitch when companies are being shits.
 

kiphalfton

Member
Nintendo is one of the few game companies whose business model is geared toward large profit margins on *hardware*, in case people weren’t aware. Which is one of the reasons why they don’t use cutting edge tech - old tech has far better profit margins.

* Hardware and software
 

Gamer79

Predicts the worst decade for Sony starting 2022
Nintendo can go fuck themselves with this upgrade. I will stick to my switch lite. It's a very lazy upgrade. A slightly bigger oled screen is such a boring upgrade. They can keep it. They should of upgraded the tegra chip and added more ram. I would pay $399 if they did a proper upgrade.
 

brian0057

Banned
Do you people honestly think the cost of manufacturing should be the price of the product?
"Oh, the new screen is just $10 so the price should also increase $10".
You seriously expect to make profits by selling the product for the same price it costs to make?

I'll repeat again for those that can't understand: Price is not based solely on costs of manufacturing.
 

Javthusiast

Banned
Nintendo is the most anti consumer company of the three.

Overpriced old hardware.
Overpriced, barely improved on Re-releases.
Online sucks.
Coasting for years and years on those evergreen sellers instead of creating the next game in the franchise.
Fomo tactics with games being taken from shops after a while.

Etc.
 

VAVA Mk2

Member
Nintendo be like

deep GIF
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Yeeeeees but as customers we get to point out when we're not happy with something.

That's how this works.

Yes if I put on my business exac suit, learned Japanese and went to a Nintendo shareholder meeting I would think like you..

But no I'm a customer and will bitch when companies are being shits.
Correct, but this certainly isn't the first time "Nintendo fans" haven't been happy with something.

Honestly, at this point, this kind of situation shouldn't be much of a surprise. It's just standard Nintendo practices.
 

Zannegan

Member
That's why a Switch pro was always doubtful.

A true Switch pro would be $600. And that doesn't work.
It's too much for the target audience, but they can't make it less without sacrificing profits which is also unacceptable.
I don't think this is necessarily true. A Switch successor with a 10x hardware jump could cost $600 today, sure, but a PS4 Pro-style jump (2x GPU, a slight bump to the CPU, a little more ram, and some architecture improvements like DLSS)? They could easily provide that at a healthy profit for $400.

Of course, why would they when they can just sell the OLED instead and keep making an insane profit per unit while they gear up for a true successor?

Here's hoping they do go balls-to-the-wall for next gen, or the Nintendo version of that at least. The Switch was a huge jump over the 3DS, so it's not impossible.
 

AJUMP23

Member
Any analysis on the percentage of the Switch markup. Is it 200% over build cost? I think that would give them a lot of margin to work with.
 

-Minsc-

Member
Soooo.... Is there a sweet spot time when the OLED Switch will be discounted towards the end of its life? I'm not up to speed on their past console pricing trends. I do know towards the end they tend to release a model with features removed for cheaper. Some day I'm interested trying a Switch. Maybe used.
 

AJUMP23

Member
Soooo.... Is there a sweet spot time when the OLED Switch will be discounted towards the end of its life? I'm not up to speed on their past console pricing trends. I do know towards the end they tend to release a model with features removed for cheaper. Some day I'm interested trying a Switch. Maybe used.
They never discounted the WII-U
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
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RoboFu

One of the green rats
Thhats actually alot in manufacuring terms. companies wait all the time to get better hardware for pennies more not dollars.

If you are producing a million OLED switches they have to invest 10 million MORE dollars.
 

Woopah

Member
Soooo.... Is there a sweet spot time when the OLED Switch will be discounted towards the end of its life? I'm not up to speed on their past console pricing trends. I do know towards the end they tend to release a model with features removed for cheaper. Some day I'm interested trying a Switch. Maybe used.
It only just came out and there's a component shortage

I could maybe see the standard Switch being discontinued in 2023 and the OLED model coming down to $299, but nothing more than that.

That's what discontinued means.
discounted /= discontinued. The former is a price cut and the latter is an ending of production.
 

lukilladog

Member
Nintendo is full of it, they can say whatever they want to protect the image of their company, specially when it comes to the actual value perception of their products (which they are experts on). No way that screen would cost them $50 more.
 
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IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
It only just came out and there's a component shortage

I could maybe see the standard Switch being discontinued in 2023 and the OLED model coming down to $299, but nothing more than that.

discounted /= discontinued. The former is a price cut and the latter is an ending of production.
Haha shit I read your post wrong.. thought you said discontinued, my bad!
 
Nintendo is full of it, they can say whatever they want to protect the image of their company, specially when it comes to the actual value perception of their products (which they are experts on). No way that screen would cost them $50 more.

They said their "profit margin" hasn't increased with the OLED model. They haven't claimed their production costs have increased by $50+ a unit.

Also, it is more than an increase in the size and type of screen. A full breakdown of all the enhancements can be found here and several other places: https://www.nintendolife.com/guides...andard-switch-the-key-differences-in-pictures
 
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lukilladog

Member
They said their "profit margin" hasn't increased with the OLED model. They haven't claimed their production costs have increased by $50+ a unit.

Also, it is more than an increase in the size and type of screen. A full breakdown of all the enhancements can be found here and several other places: https://www.nintendolife.com/guides...andard-switch-the-key-differences-in-pictures

Alrite, I thought it was the same thing with just a different panel dsiplay.
 

KAL2006

Banned
Nintendo is the most anti consumer company of the three.

Overpriced old hardware.
Overpriced, barely improved on Re-releases.
Online sucks.
Coasting for years and years on those evergreen sellers instead of creating the next game in the franchise.
Fomo tactics with games being taken from shops after a while.

Etc.

Don't forget Joycon drift hasn't been fixed yet, it makes sense though more broken Joycons more Joycon sales genuis business move.
 
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