Nintendo said on Thursday it expected to sell 15mn units of its new Switch 2 console in its current fiscal year, undercutting market expectations as the Japanese video game company warned that US tariffs could wipe “tens of billions of yen” from profits. 

The first sales projection for the Switch 2 comes a month ahead of the games industry’s most-anticipated hardware launch this year. The new machine has attracted strong global pre-orders despite a higher-than-expected $450 price tag in the US.

Analysts say the next-generation launch on June 5 creates a “transformative” moment for Super Mario’s creator. But looming over it are the “reciprocal” tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump in early April that could force significant cost increases for a machine assembled in Vietnam, Cambodia and China.