Nintendo projected weaker-than-expected initial sales of its upcoming Switch 2 game console, a reflection of how uncertainty over U.S. tariffs is weighing even on a company fielding record-setting demand. The Kyoto-based company expects shipments of the long-awaited Switch 2 to reach 15 million units in the year to March, shy of the 16.8 million average estimated by analysts. Nintendo forecast its annual operating profit to reach 320 billion ( 2.2 billion) during the period, also significantly short of analyst expectations. That is despite overwhelming preorders for the 450 gadget and market expectations that the Switch 2 would be the fastest-selling console in history. In Japan, the console will sell for 49,980 ( 350), though an edition that supports only the Japanese language.

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) gave a preview of its 2020 CES in a press event last week in New York City, where Association executives talked up category coverage expansion, a planned Las Vegas Convention Center expansion, and the challenges the industry faces while trying to navigate its direction within the context of fluid trade policies. Karen Chupka, executive vice president of CES, noted that the convention space addition was on track for CES 2021 and that the show currently attracts 61 percent of the top 500 global brands. And while the lion's share of the 4,500 exhibitors and 1,200 startups in the Eureka Park are consumer electronics companies who show their wares, the show is deepening its coverage of a host of CE-related categories. These include vehicle technology, data and analytics, artificial intelligence, digital health, smart cities, sports tech, and travel and tourism – the latter, with a new, dedicated exhibit space and the scheduling of Delta CEO Ed Bastian as a keynoter. CTA President and CEO Gary Shapiro alluded at this event in his remarks to fluctuations in trade policies that are top of mind for both his vendor members and the dealers who visit the show every year.