The Nintendo Switch game console costs about $257 for Nintendo to build, according to a report by Japanese teardown firm Fomalhaut Techno Solutions.
That’s pretty close to the console’s retail price of $300, and it leaves very little margin for Nintendo, considering that the retailers also get a profit margin. While Nintendo may still make money, it is moving closer to the razor and razor blade model, where it makes money on the software.
Fomalhaut took the console apart, and it analyzed the Joy-Con controllers and the charging dock. The touchscreen, processor, and dock run about $167. The Joy-Cons costs about $45.
The Switch has a bunch of custom silicon boards that are layered one on top of the other. The main chip is a custom Nvidia Tegra processor, which combines a central processing unit and graphics on the same chip. The HD Rumble controllers have Immersion technology.
By contrast, the Xbox One cost Microsoft about $347 to build, while the PS 4 cost about $381 to build at launch in 2013.