Nintendo, Sony stocks plunge amid tariff-driven turbulence, company delays Switch 2 pre-orders

KYOTO, JAPAN: Shares of Nintendo Co. and Sony Group Corp. plunged by over 10 percent in Tokyo on Monday amid a broader selloff in Japan, further intensified by former President Donald Trump’s recent remarks regarding the extensive tariffs he has imposed on US imports. Nintendo, recently announcing its highly anticipated next-generation Switch 2 console, is particularly exposed, as North America represents over 40 percent of its sales during the holiday quarter.

The company has postponed pre-orders in the US while evaluating the potential repercussions of the tariffs. Most of its Switch hardware is manufactured in China and Vietnam, with exports from both countries facing levies of 46 percent or more.

Everything revealed at the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct

During a conversation with reporters aboard Air Force One over the weekend, Trump expressed his desire for balanced trade with all nations, stating, “to me a deficit is a loss. We’re going to have surpluses or, at worst, we’re going to be breaking even.” His indication that tariffs would not be lifted without a significant restructuring of trade relations adversely affected Japan’s banking sector and other major technology companies.

Rakuten Group Inc. and SoftBank Group Corp. both experienced declines of over 12 percent, while firms reliant on exports, including chipmaking suppliers Advantest Corp. and Disco Corp., saw even steeper drops in their stock prices.