Nintendo Cuts Switch Sales Forecast Ahead of Successor Device Launch 

This file photo taken on January 16, 2025 shows Nintendo character Mario as an employee (L) walks past in the gaming section for Nintendo Switch products at a shop in Tokyo. (AFP)
This file photo taken on January 16, 2025 shows Nintendo character Mario as an employee (L) walks past in the gaming section for Nintendo Switch products at a shop in Tokyo. (AFP)
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Nintendo Cuts Switch Sales Forecast Ahead of Successor Device Launch 

This file photo taken on January 16, 2025 shows Nintendo character Mario as an employee (L) walks past in the gaming section for Nintendo Switch products at a shop in Tokyo. (AFP)
This file photo taken on January 16, 2025 shows Nintendo character Mario as an employee (L) walks past in the gaming section for Nintendo Switch products at a shop in Tokyo. (AFP)

Japan's Nintendo cut its full-year sales Switch forecast by 12% to 11 million units as the aging console loses momentum ahead of the launch of a successor device this year.

Nintendo remains dependent on its console business even as it has opened stores and its roster of characters feature in theme parks and films.

"While we think sales of hardware and software are solid for the eighth year, we did not achieve our plan," Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told an earnings briefing.

Nintendo sold 9.54 million Switch units in the April-December period, bringing lifetime sales to 150.86 million units.

Last month Nintendo said it will release a successor to the hit home-portable Switch console this year with a Nintendo Direct event to air on April 2.

The Switch 2 appears to closely follow the design of its predecessor, which transformed Nintendo's fortunes after the underperformance of the Wii U.

The company lowered its operating profit forecast by 22.2% to 280 billion yen ($1.8 billion) for the financial year ending March.

In the April-December period, profit fell 46.7% to 247.6 billion yen.



Downloads of DeepSeek's AI Apps Paused in South Korea Over Privacy Concerns 

People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
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Downloads of DeepSeek's AI Apps Paused in South Korea Over Privacy Concerns 

People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)

DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, has temporarily paused downloads of its chatbot apps in South Korea while it works with local authorities to address privacy concerns, South Korean officials said Monday.

South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission said DeepSeek’s apps were removed from the local versions of Apple’s App Store and Google Play on Saturday evening and that the company agreed to work with the agency to strengthen privacy protections before relaunching the apps.

The action does not affect users who have already downloaded DeepSeek on their phones or use it on personal computers. Nam Seok, director of the South Korean commission’s investigation division, advised South Korean users of DeepSeek to delete the app from their devices or avoid entering personal information into the tool until the issues are resolved.

DeepSeek got worldwide attention last month when it claimed it built its popular chatbot at a fraction of the cost of those made by US companies. The resulting frenzy upended markets and fueled debates over competition between the US and China in developing AI technology.

Many South Korean government agencies and companies have either blocked DeepSeek from their networks or prohibited employees from using the app for work, amid worries that the AI model was gathering too much sensitive information.

The South Korean privacy commission, which began reviewing DeepSeek’s services last month, found that the company lacked transparency about third-party data transfers and potentially collected excessive personal information, Nam said.

Nam said the commission did not have an estimate on the number of DeepSeek users in South Korea. A recent analysis by Wiseapp Retail found that DeepSeek was used by about 1.2 million smartphone users in South Korea during the fourth week of January, emerging as the second-most-popular AI model behind ChatGPT.