By Sam Nussey
TOKYO (Reuters) -Nintendo said on Wednesday the Switch 2 would launch on June 5 with the successor to the home-portable Switch gaming device retailing for $449.99.
The device offers a bigger, better screen and a mouse function.
The Switch 2 will retail for $449.99 in the United States and for 49,980 yen ($334.09) in Japan for a Japanese language system or 69,980 yen for a multi-language version.
“The price is a bit higher than what was widely expected,” said Serkan Toto, founder of the Kantan Games consultancy.
The Switch has sold more than 150 million units, with hardware refreshes and hit games from franchises such as “Super Mario” and “The Legend of Zelda” extending its lifecycle.
“Once the Switch 2 goes on sale, we believe the strength of demand will become evident,” Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal wrote in a client note before the announcement.
Games announced included “Mario Kart World”.
The Switch, which transformed Nintendo’s fortunes after the Wii U sold poorly, launched in March 2017 priced at $299.99.
One focus for investors is the strength of hardware supply after the Switch was affected by disruption.
“Judging from the level of work-in-progress on the company’s balance sheet, Nintendo is likely aiming for shipments of over 10 (million) units in the first year,” Goldman Sachs analyst Minami Munakata wrote in a note.
The Switch 2’s launch comes at a time of elevated trade tensions as U.S. President Donald Trump rolls out tariffs.
Analysts point to changes in the industry including the rise of subscriptions and the backwards compatibility of consoles as helping to smooth the upgrade cycle.
“The situation appears similar to the transition from Sony’s PS4 to PS5, where earnings continued to expand largely without any downcycle,” Goldman’s Munakata wrote.
Nintendo’s shares hit a high in February and are up more than 10% year-to-date.
“We think it is unlikely that the new hardware will be big enough to justify its current share price,” Amir Anvarzadeh, a market strategist at Asymmetric Advisors, wrote in a note ahead of the announcement.
($1 = 149.6000 yen)
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Jane Merriman)
