Nintendo is weighing a Switch 2 OLED model with a 1080p rigid OLED panel from Samsung Display, but the company has yet to greenlight the project due to a stubborn problem: the cost gap between LCD and OLED is simply too wide right now.
According to a ZDNet Korea report (via X/@jukan05), Nintendo is assessing whether an OLED variant makes financial sense before committing to development. The company has not made a final decision, with manufacturing costs and potential demand being the key variables. The resolution would jump from the original Switch OLED's 1280x720 HD panel to 1920x1080 Full HD, bringing the handheld display in line with the existing Switch 2 LCD model's pixel count.
But unlike the original Switch's OLED upgrade, which increased both screen size (6.2 to 7 inches) and visual quality, this version would only improve contrast, black levels, and color vibrancy since the LCD model already runs at 1080p. The timing compounds the difficulty. Nintendo announced price increases in several regions effective September 1, driven by rising NAND Flash and DRAM pricing that has forced the company to raise Switch 2 costs by roughly $50 depending on the configuration.
Passing along an additional OLED premium on top of those increases would push the console further from its traditional price point. An industry insider quoted in the report said Nintendo is "considering applying rigid OLED to the Switch 2, but has not yet confirmed the release due to the price difference compared to liquid crystal display products." Samsung Display has signaled it will "strive to supply Switch 2 OLEDs to Nintendo," but the source acknowledged that "the extent of the price increase for the Switch 2 resulting from the application of OLED is a variable."
If Nintendo gives the project the green light, development would begin by the end of 2026, with mass production targeted for late 2027 or early 2028. That cadence mirrors the original Switch's timeline: the base model launched in March 2017, and the OLED version followed in October 2021 at $349.99, $50 more than the original's $299.99 launch price.
For now, Nintendo appears to be balancing the user experience gains of OLED against the harsh reality of rising component costs. A decision is expected in the coming months.
