Hardware Switch costs roughly $257 to manufacture

smf · Apr 5, 2017

Urbanshadow said:
They just have to keep getting new bundles with new games to devaluate the older ones and cleanup the market of old units, like they do with N3DS.

Or use cheaper and slightly inferior screens in newer models, which will encourage people to buy the older ones while they can.

Enteking · Apr 5, 2017

My personal estimations are below 200$. If the Switch really costs that much, Nintendo did a bad design job and should have stripped expensive components like HD rumble and Joycons in order to keep costs down. Also they shouldn't have to pay fees to Microsoft for using FAT32 exfat patents.

MaK11-12 · Apr 5, 2017

I wouldn't have thought that the Switch costs more that $200. Maybe the author could actually provide a BOM instead of writing an article behind a paywall?
This source is pretty how ya doin' tbh. I don't believe it.

Enteking said:
My personal estimations are below 200$. If the Switch really costs that much, Nintendo did a bad design job and should have stripped expensive components like HD rumble and Joycons in order to keep costs down. Also they shouldn't have to pay fees to Microsoft for using FAT32 exfat patents.

If they had to get a patent for exfat, they would have used something like XFS like Samsung does.

FAII · Apr 5, 2017

DrkBeam said:
The switch have voez which is only portable mode, it would be like the new3ds but backwards if they create an only docked mode console, besides the vita tv didn't go well on sales, because is Nintendo I think is possible but unlikely, probably they are going to release a switch xl and a new switch

Why would they release a Switch XL? Are there any people out there who even want a Switch XL? It's big enough, who needs a bigger handheld? Sure, some people have big hands, but that doesn't mean their eyes see the world differently.

omegasoul6 · Apr 5, 2017

Not too surprising that they don't make a massive profit, considering the Nvidia Jetson TX1, which has the same Tegra X1 and 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and only 16GB of eMMC, is sold at $435.90 USD by Nvidia and it doesn't come with a screen or two Joy-Cons or the Joy-Con Grip.

The Real Jdbye · Apr 5, 2017

I think this sounds about right. There's usually not a big profit margin for manufacturers, stores take the biggest cut (but it makes sense since they sell far fewer units so in order to make money they need a bigger profit margin)
Often consoles are even sold at a loss, but that normally hasn't been the case for Nintendo, except for the 3DS after the early price drop.

It might not seem like it, but there's a LOT of tech packed into the Switch. And the fact that the controller is in 2 separate pieces, and has to have gyros, wireless hardware, rumble, battery and such in both, as well as wired connectivity, drives up the prices, if only by a few dollars each. It seems like the main Switch unit has gyros too, one of the minigames in 1-2-Switch makes use of it. The dock is probably the cheapest part to make, it feels like it's made of really cheap plastic, and the only tech in there is a basic USB hub and MyDP converter.

DrkBeam · Apr 5, 2017

FAII said:
Why would they release a Switch XL? Are there any people out there who even want a Switch XL? It's big enough, who needs a bigger handheld? Sure, some people have big hands, but that doesn't mean their eyes see the world differently.

I don't know, in my opinion the original 3ds has the perfect size they didn't need an XL version of it, but the sales says the contrary even it is a 240p screen, I would prefer a smaller switch anyway, but what I read is more likely a xl version

Kioku · Apr 5, 2017

Enteking said:
My personal estimations are below 200$. If the Switch really costs that much, Nintendo did a bad design job and should have stripped expensive components like HD rumble and Joycons in order to keep costs down. Also they shouldn't have to pay fees to Microsoft for using FAT32 exfat patents.

That's a cool opinion and all.. But I'd rather they not strip components just to please you and your wallet.

Alkéryn · Apr 5, 2017

Xzi said:
Shield TV is still $200, so the cheapest I imagine the cost of manufacturing that to be is $150. The IPS panels on Switch plus the battery and portable form factor probably add $60 - $75 to that. The rest is likely added from the joy cons, those also being entirely new to manufacturing.

This is possible for minor revisions, but I wouldn't expect anything major for 3-4 years. The hardware is as powerful as it gets for this form factor right now.

Manufacturer don't pay the same price for pieces than normal user so even if you add the price and you end up at 257 for them it cost less than half that price

Gadd · Apr 5, 2017

Enteking said:
My personal estimations are below 200$. If the Switch really costs that much, Nintendo did a bad design job and should have stripped expensive components like HD rumble and Joycons in order to keep costs down. Also they shouldn't have to pay fees to Microsoft for using FAT32 exfat patents.

nope, can't lose HD rumble, love that stuff!

Wiisel · Apr 5, 2017

FAII said:
Why would they release a Switch XL? Are there any people out there who even want a Switch XL? It's big enough, who needs a bigger handheld? Sure, some people have big hands, but that doesn't mean their eyes see the world differently.

Because sitting on a bus with a 42" screen on your lap would be take your gaming experience to a whole new level.

Gadd · Apr 5, 2017

FAII said:
Why would they release a Switch XL? Are there any people out there who even want a Switch XL? It's big enough, who needs a bigger handheld? Sure, some people have big hands, but that doesn't mean their eyes see the world differently.

they probably just need to release some different shaped/sized joycons and can avoid a new system release if it's just for form factor reasons.

Hells Malice · Apr 5, 2017

Enteking said:
My personal estimations are below 200$. If the Switch really costs that much, Nintendo did a bad design job and should have stripped expensive components like HD rumble and Joycons in order to keep costs down. Also they shouldn't have to pay fees to Microsoft for using FAT32 exfat patents.

My personal estimation is about $40,000,000
It seems we have contradicting arbitrary numbers.

Xzi · Apr 5, 2017

Alkéryn said:
Manufacturer don't pay the same price for pieces than normal user so even if you add the price and you end up at 257 for them it cost less than half that price

I never said they pay the same price to manufacture that customers do. This info comes from the tech analyst at WSJ, he wouldn't make a stupid mistake like that.

gundamu · Apr 5, 2017

cost is not higher then 200 dollars, reminder these companies buy the material/chips in bulk. that alone cuts the price of each material/chip.

my guesstimate 180 dollars per unit, imo they should suck it up and sell it for 50 dollar cheaper. sony sold ps3 at loss during launch.

Xzi · Apr 6, 2017

gundamu said:
cost is not higher then 200 dollars, reminder these companies buy the material/chips in bulk. that alone cuts the price of each material/chip.

my guesstimate 180 dollars per unit, imo they should suck it up and sell it for 50 dollar cheaper. sony sold ps3 at loss during launch.

Well I'm glad you think you know more than the people who are paid to know these things.

s157 · Apr 6, 2017

The source of that 257 USD number is a Japanese firm called Fomalhaut. Have there been any secondary sources to confirm or deny this?

SuperSVGA · Apr 6, 2017

omegasoul6 said:
Not too surprising that they don't make a massive profit, considering the Nvidia Jetson TX1, which has the same Tegra X1 and 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and only 16GB of eMMC, is sold at $435.90 USD by Nvidia and it doesn't come with a screen or two Joy-Cons or the Joy-Con Grip.

For one thing that's a development board so it's going to cost much more. Also, they're $299 if you're a student/educator or if you buy a large quantity. Additionally a lot of robotics teams got these for free.

TotalInsanity4 · Apr 6, 2017

SuperSVGA said:
For one thing that's a development board so it's going to cost much more. Also, they're $299 if you're a student/educator or if you buy a large quantity. Additionally a lot of robotics teams got these for free.

That still goes to his point, though

SuperSVGA · Apr 6, 2017

TotalInsanity4 said:
That still goes to his point, though

$299 dev kits purposely overpriced?

Hardware Switch costs roughly $257 to manufacture

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