Nintendo Switch Game Console Release Threatened by Tariffs

For months, Nintendo, the maker of famous video game series like Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong, had expected the morning of April 2nd to be a celebration.

For many fanfares, the company has announced the price and release date for the Switch 2, a new video game console for eight years. At an event in New York City, Nintendo’s US President Doug Bowser took to the stage as fans cheered on the arrival of the new game to accompany the console. Mario Kurt, Donkey Kong, Kirby.

That same day, President Trump announced tariffs that piqued the global stock market and put the Mario Party at risk. The new switch took place in Vietnam, one of the countries on the tariff list.

Two days later, Nintendo said it could delay pre-orders for the Switch 2 and raise the price from $450. It was unclear how expensive it was. But on Wednesday, Trump said he has been slowing the expansion of tariffs in Vietnam and many other countries for 90 days. Nintendo has yet to say how delays will affect the price of the Switch 2.

Nintendo’s Whip Saw Experience shows the wider disruption Trump has caused for technology makers and the uncertainty of what the market will look like for consumer technology in the coming months.

In a statement before Trump delayed the expanded tariffs of countries other than China, Nintendo said it plans to release the Switch 2 in June, but did not set a date on whether to resume pre-orders or announce new prices.

Gamers had already taken thousands of people to social media sites like X and Reddit to complain. It is a common practice in the industry for gamers to blame the high costs of corporate greedy consoles and games, but instead they have denounced Trump.

Gamer and Philadelphia writer Jake Steinberg visited New York last week to perform a Switch demonstration.

“People were always saying this modest and they always said, ‘we’re going to keep politics out of the game,’ so the irony is extreme,” Steinberg said. “Well, I’m here.”

For years, Nintendo has been making game consoles in China. However, it moved most of its production to Vietnam during Trump’s first term in 2019, moving into tariffs and the threat of trade war between China and the United States.

These operations appeared to be nothing as Trump’s plans announced last week threatened heavily new tariffs on goods from Vietnam (46%), Japan (24%), Malaysia (24%) and Cambodia (49%).

However, due to the delay announced Wednesday, Nintendo may be one of the lucky ones. The majority of home appliances, including smartphones and other gaming consoles, are still made in China. And they are expected to be subject to a 145% tariff, which is larger than a few days ago. Like most countries, products made in Vietnam still suffer from 10% tariffs.

According to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, the delay will increase production and inventory over 90 days, and increase inventory in US inventory. However, for other tech companies like Apple that normally don’t start producing new iPhones until a few months before the release date, that may not be an option.

Nintendo has ended up playing a sensitive game where they decide how much they can raise prices without chasing away gamers who already feel $450 is steep enough, or ultimately, how much they can raise prices without retaining hope that they won’t be hit by the expanded tariffs.

For gaming companies like Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, selling consoles is just one aspect of their business. If a customer chooses not to purchase a new console, they will not be able to purchase software for the game itself that sells at a higher margin than the hardware.

Pachter added that the cost of consumer tech products could rise all the way, but he added that prices for buzzy items people have been waiting for for years, like the Switch 2, the first console Nintendo released since 2017. He estimated that if the Trump administration proceeded with tariffs, the new costs for Switch 2 could increase by up to $100.

“No one is waiting for a TV to buy on June 5th, so you’re not sure if the TV prices will go up,” Patter said. “They will notice it gradually, but it’s different with the launch of such a product.”

In an interview with news media before Trump’s tariffs were announced, Nintendo’s Bowser said the expected costs of future tariffs were not taken into account at the console’s $450 price. However, analysts are primarily disputing the claim, referring to the $340 price for Switch 2, which is sold in Japan. (Nintendo spokesman said that Japanese models are limited to Japanese, so some are low cost reasons.)

Nintendo will likely wait for the dust to settle down in Trump’s tariff disruption before announcing new prices, said Doug Creutz, an analyst at investment firm Cowen. He added that there is still a possibility that Trump will withdraw from tariffs entirely.

“They don’t need to change prices again,” Krutz said. In the decision, he said he weighed the company: “Are we willing to make less profits in the US? Do you want to protect our profit margins?”

Nintendo has not delayed pre-orders for Switch 2 elsewhere in the world, where costs vary from region to region. $442 in the UK, $435 in Australia and $450 in Canada. Nintendo still does about 30% of its manufacturing industry in China, which it uses to supply non-US buyers, says David Gibson, an analyst at MST Financial.

In the short term, it helps offset some of the costs by the end of February, Nintendo had already shipped 746,000 units of Switch 2 to the US.

“It protects them in a quarter,” he added. “But then the price will be total duties.”

Nintendo is not just a high-tech company that places importance on the trade-off of increasing product prices. Similarly, Apple moved part of its manufacturing industry from China to Vietnam in 2019. Other console manufacturers, such as Sony and Microsoft, will face a similar dilemma when they manufacture their next console, scheduled to be released around 2027.

“We’re going to be attacked by all the big appliance companies, including Samsung, LG, Apple, major TV makers, gaming consoles,” Gibson said. “That’s everything.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

Meta threatened to delete sensitive data if underage users claim to have been exposed to predatory individuals, according to Attorney General.

New court filings say Meta has stolen sensitive data from test accounts mentioned in a New Mexico bombshell lawsuit that alleges underage Facebook and Instagram users are exposed to child predators. “He threatened to delete it,” he said.

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez said in a Monday filing that Meta had “deactivated” several test accounts used by law enforcement to investigate the popular app.

According to the filing, Torrez will restrain Meta from deleting “any information related to the accounts referenced in the complaint or any information related to any account on which Meta has taken action based on the information in the complaint.” They are seeking a court order.

“The state filed this motion seeking an order requiring Meta to comply with its data retention obligations under New Mexico law,” the filing states.

The attorneys also cited New Mexico court precedent against destroying relevant evidence.

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez said Meta had “deactivated” several test accounts used by law enforcement to investigate Instagram and Facebook. AP

Amazing lawsuit filed last weekAccording to , the test accounts used AI-generated photos that allegedly depicted children under the age of 14, and contained adult-oriented sexual content and content, including “genital photos and videos” and six offers. He said he was bombarded with unpleasant messages from alleged child predators. Pay to appear in porn videos.

Meta subsequently disabled these accounts. This allegedly hindered the ongoing investigation by denying authorities access to critical information “including the usernames of accounts with which investigators interacted, as well as search history and other information about those accounts.” That’s what it means.

It is unclear whether Meta has shut down the Facebook and Instagram accounts of the alleged child offenders.

Meta has been accused by the New Mexico AG’s office of failing to protect underage users. AFP (via Getty Images)

“Of course, we store data in accordance with our legal obligations,” a Meta spokesperson said.

Torres’ office did not comment on Monday’s filing.

In New Mexico, a test account called “Issa Bee” claiming to be a 13-year-old girl living in Albuquerque had more than 6,700 followers on Facebook, most of whom were “males between the ages of 18 and 40.” ” he claimed. -age.

The account has received several disturbing sexual offers, including one from an adult user who allegedly “openly promised $5,000 a week to be his ‘sugar baby’.” was.

According to the state, Meta notified the company on December 7, the day after the lawsuit was filed, that it would disable the test account.

The social media giant said: “Even though the account in question had been operating for several months without any action by Meta, and law enforcement had previously reported unlawful and unlawful content to Meta through reporting channels. Despite this, the company took this action, the filing states.

When the investigator tried to log in, he received a message warning that his account had been “deactivated.”

The message states that you have 30 days to request a review before your account is “permanently disabled.”

State attorneys contacted them the same day and asked for confirmation that Meta would “preserve all data” associated with the account, according to the filing.

Meta’s lawyers reportedly responded that the company “takes reasonable steps to identify the accounts referred to in the complaint and preserve relevant data and information regarding those accounts once identified.”

The state said Meta did not respond to requests for details about what data from accounts it deemed “relevant” and what data it would not keep.

“Given Meta’s refusal to preserve ‘all data’ related to the accounts mentioned in the complaint, a court order is required to preserve this important evidence for trial.” is stated in the submitted documents.

In October, a group of 33 state agencies sued Meta for targeting young users. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been named as a defendant in a New Mexico lawsuit.

State officials allege that Mr. Zuckerberg’s product design decisions played a key role in putting underage users at risk.

Meta has not yet responded specifically to the lawsuit’s allegations.

“We use advanced technology, employ child safety experts, report content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and communicate information and tools with other companies and law enforcement agencies, including state attorneys general. to help root out looters,” Mehta said. Statement to the Wall Street Journal after the lawsuit was filed.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been named as a defendant in a New Mexico lawsuit. AP

The New Mexico lawsuit is separate from a larger lawsuit filed by 33 state attorneys general in October.

The states allege that Meta intentionally made the app addictive to trap young users and collected personal data from underage users in violation of federal law.

Mr Mehta has denied any wrongdoing.

Source: nypost.com