Nintendo Cuts Annual Profit Forecast 10% as Switch Sales Slow

A staff member sorts products at the Nintendo store in Shibuya district in Tokyo November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A staff member sorts products at the Nintendo store in Shibuya district in Tokyo November 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Nintendo Cuts Annual Profit Forecast 10% as Switch Sales Slow

A staff member sorts products at the Nintendo store in Shibuya district in Tokyo November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A staff member sorts products at the Nintendo store in Shibuya district in Tokyo November 5, 2024. (AFP)

Nintendo cut on Tuesday its operating profit forecast for the year to March 2025 by 10% to 360 billion yen ($2.36 billion), as its ageing Switch console loses steam.

The latest forecast is below analyst estimates of a 391.4 billion yen profit.

The Kyoto-based gaming company sold 4.7 million Switch consoles in the first half of the financial year. That compares with 6.8 million units sold in the same period a year earlier.

Nintendo lowered its full-year sales forecast for the console, which is in its eighth year on the market, by 7% to 12.5 million units. That would be down 20% from actual Switch sales of 15.7 million units a year earlier.

It also revised down its annual software sales forecast by 3% to 160 million units.

"For a platform that is in its 8th year in the market, both hardware and software enjoy stable demand and brisk sales," Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told an online press conference.

"But sales so far fell short of our original projections. Taking into consideration their sales in the first half, we revised our forecasts for both hardware and software, and that led to the earnings revision."

Furukawa said there was no change to Nintendo's plan to announce a successor to its long-lasting Switch console in the current financial year, but did not go into specifics.

Shares in Nintendo closed down 3.9% ahead of the earnings announcements, underperforming the Nikkei average's 1.1% gain.



PIF, Google Cloud Partner to Establish AI Hub in Saudi Arabia

The partnership will emphasize joint research on Arabic language models and Saudi-specific AI applications. - SPA
The partnership will emphasize joint research on Arabic language models and Saudi-specific AI applications. - SPA
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PIF, Google Cloud Partner to Establish AI Hub in Saudi Arabia

The partnership will emphasize joint research on Arabic language models and Saudi-specific AI applications. - SPA
The partnership will emphasize joint research on Arabic language models and Saudi-specific AI applications. - SPA

PIF and Google Cloud announced on Wednesday a strategic partnership to establish a global artificial intelligence (AI) hub near Dammam, in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Region.
According to a press release issued by the PIF, the landmark partnership, signed at the 8th edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII8), further positions Saudi Arabia as a global AI hub and a top destination for enterprises and startups. This collaboration aims to enhance the Saudi workforce by offering AI programs to millions of students and professionals, supporting the national objective of growing the information and communication technology (ICT) sector by 50%.
Under this partnership, customers will be able to leverage Google Cloud’s technology to drive growth across industries and expand the capacity for AI application delivery. Businesses and their consumers can anticipate improved AI application quality and data services, delivered locally and with greater efficiency, SPA reported.
Subject to regulatory approvals, the partnership will emphasize joint research on Arabic language models and Saudi-specific AI applications. Enabled by Google Cloud’s substantial investment and expertise in custom silicon, this high-performance infrastructure will feature the latest tensor processing unit (TPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerators, along with the Vertex AI platform—Google Cloud’s specialized development environment for building generative AI applications.
The release added atht this collaboration underscores Saudi Arabia’s attractiveness for major tech initiatives. Investors are drawn to the nation’s strategic location at the crossroads of three continents, its advanced infrastructure, its access to fast-growing Middle Eastern markets, and the potential for reliable and affordable renewable energy to support the AI hub.
Governor of PIF Yasir Al-Rumayyan said, “We are delighted to welcome this new Google Cloud AI hub to Saudi Arabia. This partnership demonstrates PIF’s dedication to fostering an AI-friendly environment through investments in human capital and technology, upskilling thousands with cutting-edge tools to support our sustainable and innovative infrastructure goals. Saudi Arabia is a prime location for global tech partners, as PIF brings both sector expertise and a long-term approach to investment.”
Meanwhile, President and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet and Google Ruth Porat added, “This strategic partnership will accelerate the adoption of AI in the local language and across industries—including healthcare, retail, financial services, and more—for enterprises and startups in Saudi Arabia, across the Middle East, Africa, and worldwide. As part of Saudi Arabia’s vibrant technology ecosystem, we aim to create highly skilled jobs for Saudis and provide opportunities for global businesses to drive growth through cloud adoption.”
Technology is one of PIF’s priority investment sectors, enabling critical areas of the economy, including entertainment, financial services, healthcare, transportation, logistics, utilities, and renewables. PIF’s telecom, communications, and technology investments include the Saudi Information Technology Company (SITE), which delivers digital and cyber services through national talent, and iot squared, a company specializing in the Internet of Things.
To advance Arabic-language models, PIF and Google Cloud will explore enhancing the Arabic-language capabilities of Gemini, Google’s generative AI model family, by integrating additional Arabic datasets with Google Cloud’s technology. This will provide local businesses, researchers, and developers the opportunity to incorporate these models into their systems, enabling sophisticated Arabic-language AI agents and applications.
Preliminary research commissioned by Google Cloud and conducted by tech policy advisory firm Access Partnership estimates the new AI hub could contribute a cumulative $71 billion to Saudi Arabia’s GDP over eight years. Increased economic activity from AI adoption is expected to support the creation of thousands of highly skilled direct and indirect jobs.
These investments expand on Google Cloud’s existing presence in Saudi Arabia, which includes the Dammam cloud region, launched last year as part of Google Cloud’s global network of 40 regions.