It would be the revivification event that the video game industry was desperately needed – rather, thanks to the prices of Donald Trump, the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 experiences a birth in difficulty.
Barely Nintendo has announced the pre -order date and the price of the new long -awaited portable console when the American president sliced prices on China and Vietnam, among others, which prompted the Japanese game giant to immediately suspend the American pre -orders of Switch 2.
Today, Nintendo invited Sky News to be part of the first group of journalists in the United Kingdom to try the console and adapt to a product that quickly becomes a totemic victim of the world trade war.
It was already a difficult market for the successor of the third best -selling console of all time, the original switch, which sold more than 150 million units.
Nintendo hopes to sell 10 million units this year – if they succeed, may well depend on American trade policy
When the switch was launched for the first time in 2017, he had almost no rival – this landscape is now very different.
Steam Deck of Valve Corporation, whose release has also been anything but gently thanks to supply chain problems caused by the shortages of Taiwanese semiconductors, won a considerable market share.
Its ability to play most games based on Windows, of which there are many than for the switch, and the option of using it in office mode – essentially transforming it into a laptop – made it attractive for consumers looking for a more powerful and versatile unit.
To make things worse, few people could have expected the measure in which Mr. Trump would sanction countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
China, an important manufacturing base for Switch 2, is now subjected to 145% of American commercial prices. Vietnamese imports were to be taxed at 46%, but these were interrupted for 90 days by Mr. Trump after turbulence in the financial markets.
Nintendo announced that pre-orders in the United States would open on April 9, the console costing $ 449.99 (£ 395.99 for buyers in the United Kingdom).
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However, even before a single American order may have been made, pre-orders were indefinitely suspended following radical rates imposed on the countries of Eastern Asia by the United States on April 4. British consumers are always able to place pre -orders.
The delay may well pay new changes to players, said Gareth Sutcliffe, game manager at Consultancy Enders Analysis.
“The other significant impact is the price consequences on Nintendo’s physical game sales, since they are all produced in Japan, and if they can be imported as a finished game or as a component.”
It provides the upheaval in the world trade, which leads to unprecedented prices for the game equipment, saying: “Price for the whole consoles could accelerate the decline of this generation of consoles if you suddenly have prices near the $ 1,000 brand (£ 764).”
The rivals, Xbox and PlayStation de Nintendo are not isolated from the trade war because their supply chains also take place mainly through East Asia.
Nintendo hopes to sell 10 million units this year – if they succeed, may well depend on the whims of the President of the United States of America.