Nintendo Eyes a Switch 2 OLED Model as the Memory Crisis Bites

Nintendo is reviewing an OLED version of the Switch 2, with mass production potentially starting in late 2027 or early 2028. That timeline comes from ZDNet Korea, which cited three separate industry sources describing a Full HD (FHD), 1920×1080 rigid OLED panel, a sharp jump from the 1280×720 screen on the original Switch OLED.

Samsung Display, which built that original Switch OLED screen back in 2021, is tipped to supply the new panel too. Nothing is finalized. The same memory chip crunch that just forced a $50 price hike on the standard Switch 2 is the reason Nintendo has not greenlit the upgrade.

ZDNet Korea’s Report Lays Out a Sharper Screen

The report comes from ZDNet Korea reporter Lee Ki-jong, who spoke with three display-industry insiders in South Korea about Nintendo’s internal planning. One source described the project bluntly: “Nintendo is considering releasing a Switch 2 OLED with the resolution upgraded from HD to FHD.”

If Nintendo approves the project, development could start by the end of this year. That would put mass production in the window of late 2027 or early 2028, with a retail launch not long after.

OLED, organic light-emitting diode technology, lights each pixel individually instead of using a single backlight. That produces deeper blacks and richer color than LCD, or liquid crystal display, panels. It is not a free upgrade, though. OLED screens are also more prone to VRR flicker, a shimmering effect tied to how fast their pixels respond at changing refresh rates.

No panel size, refresh rate or HDR spec has been confirmed for the proposed model, and Nintendo has not made any official statement about it.

A Price Gap Nintendo Can’t Ignore

Rigid OLED panels cost more to build than LCD, and that gap is the entire holdup. Nintendo is reportedly still weighing whether the extra manufacturing expense makes sense once it is stacked on top of a separate, unrelated cost problem: the global memory chip shortage.

NAND flash memory, the chips used for long-term storage in phones, consoles and data centers, has been climbing in price for months. Contract prices are forecast to jump as much as 90% in a single quarter, according to research firm TrendForce, cited by Bloomberg. DRAM, the chips that handle short-term processing, has followed a similar curve.

That squeeze already reached the standard Switch 2. Nintendo raised the console’s US price by $50, blaming higher memory costs and tariffs. The increase takes effect September 1 in the US and has already landed in Japan, where the price moved from 49,980 yen to 59,980 yen. The same storage crunch is also denting software sales: Nintendo’s own financial statement showed 2.18 games sold per console by the end of 2025, compared with 3.88 games at the same point in the original Switch’s life.

• 90% – potential quarterly jump in NAND flash contract prices, per TrendForce.
• $50 – Nintendo’s US Switch 2 price hike, from $449.99 to $499.99.
• 16.5 million – Switch 2 units Nintendo forecasts selling in the fiscal year ending March 2027, down from 19.86 million the year before.
• 2.3 trillion yen ($14.7 billion) – Nintendo’s revenue in the fiscal year that ended in March 2026, up 98.6% year over year.

Kantan Games chief executive Serkan Toto put it plainly to AFP: “Users can forget the past when consoles always became cheaper in tandem with component costs falling over time.” Omdia senior analyst James McWhirter agreed that cost increases tend to reach shoppers one way or another: “Any rise in the cost of console hardware will be passed on to consumers via multiple means.”

Layer an OLED panel’s extra cost on top of that, and Nintendo’s math only gets tougher.

Nintendo Isn’t the Only Handheld Maker Squeezed

Every company chasing OLED screens for handheld gaming devices is hitting the same wall of memory and panel costs this year.

Valve raised Steam Deck OLED pricing to $789 and $949, pointing to the same memory crunch squeezing Nintendo. Asus took a different route with its own handheld: the ROG Xbox Ally X20 hides its first OLED screen behind a $2,000 bundle, making the panel a rare, expensive extra instead of a standard spec.

Both moves point to the same reality. OLED and memory costs are climbing together this year, breaking the old pattern of components getting cheaper as a product ages.

The Original Switch Took Four Years to Reach OLED

Nintendo has run this playbook before. The original Switch launched in 2017 with an LCD screen. Switch Lite followed in 2019, still LCD. The Switch OLED did not arrive until the fall of 2021, roughly four and a half years after the console’s debut, with a larger 7-inch screen and an upgraded dock.

Switch 2 launched on June 5, 2025, again with LCD only. If this new report holds and mass production starts in late 2027 or early 2028, an OLED Switch 2 would arrive roughly two and a half to three years after launch, well ahead of the original’s pace.

Nintendo has historically favored a staggered rollout to stretch each console generation’s shelf life. A faster OLED turnaround this time would fit that habit. It sits awkwardly next to a company simultaneously raising prices to absorb its own memory bill.

A Battery Fix and a Screen Leak, but No OLED Yet

Two other Switch 2 hardware changes are already real, and neither one is the OLED model.

Nintendo is rolling out a Switch 2 revision with a user-replaceable battery for Europe this autumn, driven by the EU rule that already retired the original Switch from European shelves. Separately, a redesigned LCD panel, apparently built by Sharp instead of the launch model’s Innolux supplier, quietly surfaced on a Chinese resale site in late June. Its different circuitry and connectors suggest Nintendo may be trying to fix the display’s ghosting problem, where fast-moving objects leave a visible trail.

Nobody outside Nintendo knows for certain if that panel targets ghosting, the battery redesign, or both. If Nintendo rolls it out without clearly labeling old and new units, it could split buyers into a hardware lottery, some getting the fix and some not, with no way to tell until they power the console on.

• Confirmed: A replaceable-battery Switch 2 model is coming to Europe this autumn.
• Confirmed: The US price hike to $499.99 takes effect September 1, after already landing in Japan.

• Unconfirmed: Whether the Sharp LCD panel spotted online will reach global retail, or fix ghosting at all.
• Unconfirmed: Whether Nintendo greenlights the OLED model, and what it would cost buyers.

None of this changes what today’s Switch 2 owners are holding. It just means Nintendo is juggling three separate hardware questions at once, with the OLED model the least settled of the three.

Will Nintendo Actually Build This Switch 2 OLED?

Probably eventually, but not soon and not cheaply. Nintendo’s own history, rising memory and panel costs, and a fan base already absorbing one price increase point to a slow, cautious decision. The final call still rests on cost, timing and demand, and Nintendo has given no signal on when that call gets made.

Nintendo Everything, which has tracked ZDNet Korea’s reporting before, noted the outlet “has done some accurate reporting for tech news in the past,” while still urging caution until Nintendo confirms anything itself. Investors are already watching the cost side closely. Nintendo shares fell as much as 11% earlier this year as the memory chip crunch first rattled confidence in Switch 2 margins.

The report itself points to three factors still deciding the outcome:

• Development timing, since nothing starts until Nintendo formally greenlights the project.
• Production cost, weighed against the price gap between LCD and rigid OLED panels.
• Market demand, and whether buyers will pay more for a sharper screen after already absorbing one price hike.

For now, the Switch 2 OLED exists only as a line in a supplier’s planning document.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will a Switch 2 OLED model cost more than the current console?

Nintendo has not set a price for the proposed model. Reporting on the plans estimates the OLED upgrade alone could add anywhere from double to triple digits to the price once panel and component costs are factored in, on top of whatever the standard Switch 2 costs by the time it ships.

Who currently builds the Switch 2’s screen?

The launch-model Switch 2 uses an LCD panel from Innolux. A newly discovered Sharp panel, model number LS079T1SX10P, may replace it to address ghosting, while Samsung Display, which built the original Switch OLED’s screen, is the name most tipped to supply any future OLED version.

When did the original Switch OLED launch, and how big was its screen?

Nintendo shipped the Switch OLED in the fall of 2021 with a 7-inch display, up from the standard model’s 6.2-inch LCD, plus an upgraded dock with a wired LAN port.

Has Nintendo confirmed any of this?

No. Nintendo has made no official statement about a Switch 2 OLED model. The claims trace back to industry sources speaking with ZDNet Korea, and outlets tracking that reporter’s history note the outlet has generally been accurate but still describe this specific report as unconfirmed.

Are other companies also raising prices on OLED gaming handhelds?

Yes. Sony’s PlayStation 5 price has climbed by $150 over the past year, three times Nintendo’s $50 Switch 2 increase, while Valve and Asus have both pushed OLED handheld pricing higher and cited the same memory chip crunch.