PS5 Is Now Cheaper Than Switch 2 in Japan — Here's Why

Something unusual is happening in the Japanese console market. Starting May 25, 2026, the PlayStation 5 will actually cost less than the Nintendo Switch 2 in Japan — a situation that would have seemed almost unthinkable a year ago.

The reason? Nintendo just announced a ¥10,000 price hike for the Switch 2, pushing it from ¥49,980 up to ¥59,980. Sony, meanwhile, is holding the PS5 steady at ¥55,000. Do the math and suddenly Sony's home console is the budget option — at least on paper.

Why Is Nintendo Raising the Price?

Nintendo is pointing to rising memory costs as the main driver. The global demand for RAM and flash storage has been climbing sharply, largely fueled by the AI boom — data centers are consuming memory at unprecedented rates, which is squeezing supply and pushing prices up across the board.

The Switch 2 is heavily reliant on fast memory to pull off its hybrid console/handheld trick, so Nintendo's exposure to those costs is higher than most. Whether you think that justifies a ¥10,000 increase on a console that launched not long ago is another question — but that's the explanation on the table.

Does This Actually Change Anything?

Honestly? Probably not dramatically — at least not in the short term. The Switch 2 is outselling the PS5 in Japan by a huge margin. Recent Famitsu data puts Switch 2 weekly sales at around 45,000 units versus roughly 13,000 for PS5. Nintendo has a stranglehold on the Japanese market that a price flip alone isn't going to loosen.

Japanese consumers have a strong preference for portable gaming, and the Switch 2's hybrid design speaks directly to that. Sony's home console being ¥5,000 cheaper isn't the kind of gap that reshuffles buying decisions for most people who've already made up their minds.

That said, price does matter at the margins. For someone genuinely undecided between the two platforms, this could tip the scales. And perceptually, it's a strange look for Nintendo — a brand that's historically positioned itself as the accessible, family-friendly option — to be charging more than PlayStation.

The Bigger Story: AI Is Affecting Your Games

The part of this story that doesn't get enough attention is how AI-driven demand is quietly rippling through the gaming industry. Memory prices affect:

• Console manufacturing costs (as we're seeing here)
• PC component pricing for gaming rigs
• Storage costs for cloud gaming infrastructure
• The economics of game cartridges and physical media

It's not just an abstract finance story — it's shaping what you pay for hardware and how platforms price their products. Nintendo raising the Switch 2 by ¥10,000 because of AI memory demand is a very concrete example of that.

What Should You Take From This?

If you're in Japan (or paying attention to Japanese market trends as a bellwether), this is a notable moment. The PS5 being cheaper than the Switch 2 is the kind of headline that generates buzz even if the underlying sales dynamics don't shift overnight.

For everyone else, it's a reminder that hardware pricing isn't just about what companies want to charge — external forces like component markets and supply chains play a bigger role than most people realize. And with AI demand continuing to grow, don't expect memory pressure on hardware pricing to ease up anytime soon.