Nintendo bleeds $14 billion market cap over worries about DRAM shortages and price increases

Nintendo loses $14 billion in value as fears set in over the surging price of components, as the 12GB of RAM modules for the Switch 2 have gone up by 41%.

Nintendo bleeds $14 billion market cap over worries about DRAM shortages and price increases
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Gaming Editor
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1 minute & 45 seconds read time
TL;DR: Nintendo shares dropped nearly 5%, losing $14 billion due to rising DRAM and NAND prices impacting Switch 2 production costs. Memory chip price hikes, including 41% for DRAM and 8% for NAND, are expected to continue through 2026, affecting console pricing and gamer expenses until potential relief in 2028.

Nintendo shares have slid as much as 4.7% on Wednesday, hitting their lowest levels since May, wiping $14 billion in market share, as there are major concerns over the increasing price of DRAM memory chips required for the Switch 2.

Nintendo bleeds $14 billion market cap over worries about DRAM shortages and price increases 86
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Inside of the Nintendo Switch 2 is 12GB of RAM which the company needs, but they have gone up a huge 41% in the last quarter, with the NAND storage board for the Switch 2 also now 8% more expensive, and expected price increases for the add-on storage cards in 2026, too.

Pelham Smithers of Pelham Smithers Associates said: "The rise in NAND prices is starting to really impact express SD card prices. A 256GB express SD card costs $89.99 on Amazon. This is effectively a cost that Nintendo has passed on to the gamer".

Smithers also said that the recent Black Friday sales for the Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundles were one of the seasonal sales "surprises", adding: "you wouldn't expect it (Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle) to be discounted this close to the holiday season".

These issues for Nintendo aren't exclusive to the Japanese company, as Microsoft has been -- rather blazingly -- increasing the cost of its Xbox Series X/S consoles, even when they've been bleeding out console market share to Sony and its dominating PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro consoles.

We should expect the pain to continue well into 2026, and into 2027, before some (possible) relief arrives in 2028 for DRAM.