Nintendo forecasts 15 million Switch 2 sales

JAPANESE gaming giant Nintendo has forecast that it would sell 15 million units of its hotly awaited Switch 2 console in the current financial year but warned US tariffs could hit its bottom line.

- AFP

The successor to the Switch — the third best-selling console ever behind Sony's PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo DS - is set to hit shelves worldwide on June 5.

While the “Super Mario” maker is diversifying into theme parks and hit movies, around 90 percent of its revenue still comes from the Switch business, analysts say.

However, the unit sales forecast is more conservative than the 16.8 million expected in a survey of Bloomberg economists. The Switch, a handheld and TV-compatible device that became a must-have gadget during pandemic lockdowns, has sold around 150 million units since its launch in 2017.

For the financial year that ended on March 31, Nintendo reported a 43.2 percent fall in full-year net profit to 278.8 billion yen ($1.9 billion), as gamers wait to splash their cash on the Switch 2.