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‘Mario Wonder’ Latest Mushroom Power-up for Nintendo Switch 

An employee wearing a face mask stands next to a screen displaying characters from the Nintendo video game Super Mario at a store for Japanese games giant Nintendo in Tokyo on February 3, 2022. (AFP)
An employee wearing a face mask stands next to a screen displaying characters from the Nintendo video game Super Mario at a store for Japanese games giant Nintendo in Tokyo on February 3, 2022. (AFP)
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‘Mario Wonder’ Latest Mushroom Power-up for Nintendo Switch 

An employee wearing a face mask stands next to a screen displaying characters from the Nintendo video game Super Mario at a store for Japanese games giant Nintendo in Tokyo on February 3, 2022. (AFP)
An employee wearing a face mask stands next to a screen displaying characters from the Nintendo video game Super Mario at a store for Japanese games giant Nintendo in Tokyo on February 3, 2022. (AFP)

Nintendo made a pitch for the ongoing match fitness of its aging Switch console on Wednesday, as the Kyoto-based gaming company continues to churn out hits even as the market debates the timing of a successor device.

The Japanese firm said it sold 4.3 million copies of "Super Mario Bros. Wonder" - the first entirely new instalment in the almost 40-year-old side-scrolling series in a decade - within two weeks of its Oct. 20 launch.

That is the best performance of any "Super Mario" title, Nintendo said, as it takes advantage of the Switch install base of more than 130 million units and interest generated by a barnstorming animated movie featuring the moustachioed plumber.

"The Switch will enter its eighth year from March 2024 but we will continue to develop new titles without being bound by previous platform lifecycles," Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told a strategy briefing.

The comments come a day after Nintendo reported it sold 6.84 million Switch units in the first six months of the financial year that started in April, a slight increase on the same period a year earlier.

Sales of first-party Switch games were the strongest of any year over that period other than 2020, Nintendo said, boosted by bumper titles such "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom".

Nintendo also announced on Wednesday "Super Mario" creator Shigeru Miyamoto is developing a live action adaptation of the "Zelda" franchise.

Games slated for release next year include "Mario vs. Donkey Kong" and "Luigi's Mansion 2 HD".

The timing of a successor to the hybrid home/portable Switch device will depend on the strength of Nintendo's hardware and software sales, wrote Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal in a client note, flagging March and October as possible launch windows.

"The stronger the sales, the later the launch of Switch 2," he wrote.

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Technology

US May Target Samsung, Hynix, TSMC Operations in China

A man walks past the logo of Samsung Electronics displayed outside the company's Seocho building in Seoul on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
A man walks past the logo of Samsung Electronics displayed outside the company's Seocho building in Seoul on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
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US May Target Samsung, Hynix, TSMC Operations in China

A man walks past the logo of Samsung Electronics displayed outside the company's Seocho building in Seoul on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
A man walks past the logo of Samsung Electronics displayed outside the company's Seocho building in Seoul on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

The US Department of Commerce is considering revoking authorizations granted in recent years to global chipmakers Samsung, SK Hynix and TSMC, making it more difficult for them to receive US goods and technology at their plants in China, according to people familiar with the matter.

The chances of the United States withdrawing the authorizations are unclear. But with such a move, it would be harder for foreign chipmakers to operate in China, where they produce semiconductors used in a wide range of industries, Reuters said.

A White House official said the United States was "just laying the groundwork" in case the truce reached between the two countries fell apart. But the official expressed confidence that the trade agreement would go forward and that rare earths would flow from China, as agreed.

"There is currently no intention of deploying this tactic," the official said. "It's another tool we want in our toolbox in case either this agreement falls through or any other catalyst throws a wrench in bilateral relations."

Shares of US chip equipment makers that supply plants in China fell when the Wall Street Journal first reported the news earlier on Friday. KLA Corp dropped 2.4%, Lam Research fell 1.9% and Applied Materials sank 2%. Shares of Micron, a major competitor to Samsung and SK Hynix in the memory chip sector, rose 1.5%.

A TSMC spokesman declined comment. Samsung and Hynix did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lam Research, KLA and Applied Materials did not immediately respond, either.

In October 2022, after the United States placed sweeping restrictions on US chipmaking equipment to China, it gave foreign manufacturers like Samsung and Hynix letters authorizing them to receive goods.

In 2023 and 2024, the companies received what is known as Validated End User status in order to continue the trade.

A company with VEU status is able to receive designated goods from a US company without the supplier obtaining multiple export licenses to ship to them. VEU status enables entities to receive US-controlled products and technologies "more easily, quickly and reliably," as the Commerce Department website puts it.

The VEU authorizations come with conditions, a person familiar with the matter said, including prohibitions on certain equipment and reporting requirements.

“Chipmakers will still be able to operate in China," a Commerce Department spokesperson said in a statement when asked about the possible revocations. "The new enforcement mechanisms on chips mirror licensing requirements that apply to other semiconductor companies that export to China and ensure the United States has an equal and reciprocal process.”

Industry sources said that if it became more difficult for US semiconductor equipment companies to ship to foreign multinationals, it would only help domestic Chinese competitors.

"It’s a gift," one said.