Kimishima remarked about how the Nintendo Switch and 3DS still co-exist at this time due to difference in price.

Source: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2018/180502e.pdf

This got me thinking just how cheap the Nintendo Switch could get with revisions and economies of scale to assist to bring down the MSRP of the Nintendo Switch over many years.

Seeing how Nintendo has targeted this strategy with all of their hardware (except for Wii U). We have seen very impulse buy pricing (usually making to a price below $100) of many of their consoles at the end of their life.

The real question now, is how cheap can the Nintendo Switch's MSRP go to by the end of its life?

Nintendo always aims to make a profit on hardware sold and the other issue is inflation of the USD.

I think they will be able to get to $129 at some point (with a 2DS-esque cost reducing revision), and possibly $99 if inflation is slowed down enough.

What do you guys think?

Sounds about right. Although the cheapest version may end up being a handheld only version that isn't even called "Switch" but still plays Switch games.

Wouldn't a "Vita TV" style Switch be cheaper than a portable? No joycon, battery or screen, just the chip and maybe a pro-controller.

I think a home-only non-portable version could reach sub-200. Not having to produce the screen or internal battery could save a bit. Dock would not be needed either with slight adjustments.

Edit: Darwinianevolution beat to it.

i imagine they could get away with selling a $199.99 Switch bundle that doesnt include a dock, grip, or HDMI. you just get the Switch, a charging cable, and a pair of joy cons. it would be a nice gateway if you cant afford the $299.99 and all of the components bought separately would total over $299.99, still giving people a reason to buy both bundles.

and eventually down the line the hardware will become cheaper and we will likely see a hardware revision that uses cheaper parts that could bring the price down to $249.99 and $149.99 respectively. and at that point, the 3DS has no business still costing $199.99, so that can get lowered to $99.99

In one point $150 for sure.

With the same functionality and similar physical design ? Probably no less than $150 for at least 5 years from it's release and it still never happened with the 3DS ... (sure there was the 2DS which retailed for $130 initially but it had no 3D and lacked the clam shell design so the closest thing we got was the New 2DS XL which released less than a year ago)

There's a good chance that it might not ever go below $200 either ...

I honestly think if they sold it at break even point, even at launch that woulda been like 199$.
Wouldnt be surprised if Nintendo pocket 50-100$ on each switch unit sold.

I suspect they can maybe get it down to the 129-150$ ish range.

I think the Switch as it is now, should be able to hit 150$ at some point.

A home only Switch version without the lcd/batteries ect, could probably hit that 99$ eventually.

There are a lot of factors to how low it can go, but if we just stick to the curent form factor only, $129.99 is probably the lowest it can go.

The current Switch uses a 20nm Tegra X1, so they can make significant cost reductions at any time on the SOC. If they bring out a base Switch featuring a 7nm SOC, they could completely eliminate the need for a fan, making it a much simpler build. They should easily be able to make a $199.99 Switch on 7nm next year, with a pretty healthy profit margin. I actually think they could cut to $149.99 down the road on the same 7nm SOC while maintaing a small profit margin.

After that it becomes muddy. How long will Switch be viable? By 2020, you could be looking at most AAA 3rd party games moving to PS5/XB? as the lead platforms. Maybe Sony and Microsoft both offer a Mobile/Portable in their ecosystem at somewhere between PS4 and PS4 Pro levels. I am very sure we will have a Switch Pro that is also in that ball park. Will a base level Switch have much of a place in the market at this point? Only time will tell. If I had to guess, the base Switch specs will just be to low for serious development by this point. I think Nintendo will give it one last price drop to $129.99, and it will mostly be for Nintendo titles, and indies.