By Sam Nussey

TOKYO (Reuters) -Nintendo on Thursday said it expects to sell 15 million Switch 2 units and for operating profit to rise 13% to 320 billion yen ($2.22 billion) in the year ending March.

Nintendo is preparing for the Switch 2's June 5 launch, which will test its ability to manage supply chains to minimise disruption from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war.

The gaming device is the successor to the Switch, which has sold more than 150 million units since its 2017 launch and transformed Nintendo's fortunes after the Wii U flopped.

"Nintendo clearly wants to play it safe and chose what is a cautious but probably reasonable forecast," said Serkan Toto, founder of the Kantan Games consultancy.

The company is known for its conservative forecasts. Toto sees Switch 2 sales at closer to 20 million units.

Nintendo paused the start of U.S. pre-orders as it considered the impact of increasing U.S. tariffs. It later said it would maintain pricing at $449.99.

"If additional tariffs are imposed in the future and we adjust the price, we may see a decrease in demand," Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told an earnings briefing.

Nintendo sees a hit to profits in the tens of billions of yen from the tariffs and will adjust forecasts if the situation changes, he said.

While Nintendo has opened stores and its characters feature in theme parks and film, it remains dependent on the console business.

For the year ended March, operating profit fell 46.6% to 282.5 billion yen.

Nintendo sees Switch 2 software sales of 45 million units in the current financial year. The hybrid home-portable device will launch with titles including "Mario Kart World".

Over the same period, the company expects to sell 4.5 million units of the aging Switch and 105 million software units for that system.

There are signs of robust demand for the more powerful gaming device, which offers a bigger screen and better graphics than its predecessor.

Xbox maker Microsoft and PlayStation maker Sony have both hiked console prices in recent weeks.

($1 = 144.1900 yen)

(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Saad Sayeed)

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