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Microsoft says it worked hard to address regulatory concerns over Activision Blizzard deal

Microsoft says it “really tried” to take the concerns of U.K. regulators to heart, before launching its fresh bid to take over Activision Blizzard — and it’s now up to the regulators to decide whether that path is clear.

“I think we need to let the regulators speak for themselves,” Microsoft’s vice-chairman and president Brad Smith told CNBC in an exclusive interview. “They have decisions that need to be made, especially in the U.K., but from my vantage point, what we’ve really tried to do is take these concerns to heart.”

Last Tuesday, Microsoft submitted a new proposal to U.K. regulators for the takeover of American game publisher Activision Blizzard after its initial proposal was rejected.

Microsoft and Activision have agreed to a new, restructured agreement, which the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority will now investigate with a decision deadline of Oct. 18.

Microsoft submitted a new proposal to U.K. regulators for the takeover of American game publisher Activision Blizzard after its initial proposal was rejected.

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It will be up to the regulators, especially now in the U.K., to decide whether that path is clear.

Brad Smith

Microsoft’s vice-chairman and president

On regulatory concerns, Smith said: “We haven’t tried to dismiss them. We haven’t tried to downplay them. We haven’t tried to ignore them.”

“We’ve worked to address them, and by addressing them, we have put together a transaction that will advance competition, while also eliminating the concerns on the anti-competitive side that some people had,” he told CNBC’s Martin Soong on the sidelines of the Business 20 Summit in New Delhi.

“I think it will be up to the regulators, especially now in the U.K., to decide whether that path is clear,” he said in an interview aired Monday.

AI will advance productivity and fundamental lines of businesses, Microsoft says

U.K. regulators, the Competition and Markets Authority, said that under the new deal, Microsoft will not acquire cloud rights for existing Activision PC and console games, or for new games released by Activision for the next 15 years.

Instead, French gaming publisher Ubisoft will acquire those rights before Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, the CMA added.

“That to me, is not just a recipe for this transaction,” said Smith.

“I think that in the world of technology, whether we’re talking about software or hardware or pharmaceuticals, there are times when companies can come together in advance innovation, produce better products, and there may be steps that need to be taken at the same time to address regulatory concerns.”

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Nintendo Switch 2 details: Price, screen size, controllers, microphone chat and games

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Nintendo Switch 2 details: Price, screen size, controllers, microphone chat and games

Nintendo Switch 2

Courtesy: Nintendo

Nintendo revealed the details of the Switch 2, its next game console, in a launch video on Wednesday.

The Switch 2 will hit store shelves on June 5 for $449.99. Nintendo will launch game titles including “Mario Kart World” and “Street Fighter 6” alongside the new hardware.

The new device is a bigger and faster version of the Nintendo Switch, which has sold 150 million units since it was released in 2017, making it the third-best selling game console of all time. Gamers will be able to use the Switch 2 as both a handheld console as well as hooked up to a television. The device will be able to play the existing library of Switch games as well as new and updated games that require the new hardware.

The Switch 2 looks a lot like its predecessor with some differences, including a larger 7.9-inch screen with 1080p resolution which can display gameplay at 120 frames per second. The company’s controllers, called Joy-Cons, now attach to the console’s screen with magnets, and can work as a mouse when used on a table. It comes with 256GB of internal storage.

One of the biggest changes a new “C” button that brings up a new Nintendo app for chatting with friends called Game Chat. The hardware has an improved microphone, and can support simultaneous split-screen gaming over the internet. A separate camera accessory will enable users to stream video of themselves playing the game, as well.

The improved hardware will allow for bigger worlds and more immersive experiences. For example, 24 racers can compete in Mario Kart World at the same time, Nintendo said.

Nintendo Switch 2

Courtesy: Nintendo

Nintendo console launches are a landmark for the gaming industry.

They’re hotly anticipated by fans, who want to know what games are coming, as well as game developers and publishers, who want to plan how they’ll develop for Nintendo’s lucrative platforms. Nearly 1.4 billion games and apps for the Switch have been sold during its lifetime, Nintendo has said.

Nintendo’s new gaming system comes during a period when consoles are less central to the gaming industry than ever before. 

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Sony’s Playstation 5, released in 2020, has sold fewer units than its predecessor did after the same years of availability. Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S is the second-straight generation of Xbox hardware with falling sales, according to analysts, and the company’s leadership has de-emphasized its consoles in favor of promoting a message that gamers can play Xbox games on phones, smart TVs, VR headsets and other hardware.

Meanwhile, companies like Nvidia, Amazon, Google and Microsoft have invested heavily in “cloud streaming,” which enables users to rent high-powered servers to run their games in the cloud. This allows gamers to play games on a web browser, as opposed to consoles they own.

Nintendo Switch 2

Courtesy: Nintendo | YouTube

Businesses prefer cloud streaming services because it turns lumpy game sales into a recurring revenue stream billed monthly, but nearly all of the companies that have given cloud streaming a go have failed to find commercial traction. Google, for example, closed its cloud streaming service in 2023. Additionally, more and more gaming is done on phones and tablets, where Apple and Google take a cut of game sales.

Nintendo continues to buck these trends. 

Its Nintendo Switch, using a Nvidia chip, was underpowered by design when it was first released in 2017, and still cannot play games in 4K resolution — something that Sony and Microsoft’s consoles were able to do when the Switch was released. The Switch 2 will be able to play games in 4K resolution on televisions.

Instead of competing in terms of producing higher-fidelity and more realistic graphics, which create bigger game files and require faster hardware, Nintendo doubled down on colorful, cartoon graphics and its exclusive characters and franchises. That includes Mario, Zelda and Pokemon. These characters are increasingly moving beyond games and into movies and other media — “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was released in 2023, and a Legend of Zelda movie is planned for 2027.

And while the Japanese company has experimented with mobile games, its consoles remain the only place to play major new titles. Nintendo regularly releases experiences that require additional physical parts to run, such as the cardboard structures of Nintendo Labo, which turned the first Switch into a virtual-reality experience for kids.

Nintendo stock, traded in Japan, is up nearly 28% so far this year in anticipation of the Switch 2. The company reported 1.67 trillion yen ($11 billion) in revenue in its fiscal 2024, which ended in May.

WATCH: Nintendo has ‘a lot of work to do’ to convince casual users to upgrade to Switch 2: Kantan Games

Nintendo has 'a lot of work to do' to convince casual users to upgrade to Switch 2: Kantan Games

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Tesla reports 336,000 vehicle deliveries in first quarter, 13% drop from a year ago

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Tesla reports 336,000 vehicle deliveries in first quarter, 13% drop from a year ago

General view of a Tesla Store in Paramus, New Jersey, on March 20, 2025.

Kena Betancur | Getty Images

Tesla reported 336,000 vehicle deliveries in the first quarter of 2025, a 13% decline from a year ago, two days after the electric vehicle company’s stock wrapped up its worst quarter since 2022.

Shares slumped 4% following the news.

Here are the key numbers:

  • Total deliveries Q1 2025: 336,681
  • Total production Q1 2025: 362,615

Investors were expecting Tesla to report deliveries of between 360,000 and 370,000 vehicles, according to StreetAccount. Tesla’s investor relations team sends a company-compiled consensus to select analysts, and said the average estimate was for around 377,590 deliveries. Prediction market company Kalshi on Tuesday released a forecast for Tesla deliveries of 352,000.

In the first quarter of 2024, Tesla reported 386,810 deliveries, and production of 433,371 vehicles.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, typically among Tesla and CEO Elon Musk’s biggest believers, called the report a “fork in the road moment” for the electric vehicle company in a post on social media platform X.

“We knew 1Q Tesla deliveries would be soft but these numbers were bad,” he wrote. “We are not going to look at these numbers with rose colored glasses…they were a disaster on every metric. Refresh issues but brand crisis key.”

Deliveries are the closest approximation of vehicle sales reported by Tesla but are not precisely defined in the company’s shareholder communications.

Tesla doesn’t break out sales and production by model or region. However, the company said that it produced 345,454 of its most popular Model 3 and Model Y cars and delivered 323,800 of them in the three months ending March 31.

The company reported 12,881 deliveries of its other models, including its angular steel Cybertruck.

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During the quarter, Tesla faced planned, partial shutdowns in some of its factories that allowed the company to upgrade manufacturing lines to start producing a redesigned version of its popular Model Y SUV.

Musk recently said during an all-hands session with Tesla employees that he expects the Model Y to be the “best-selling car on Earth again this year.” 

But Tesla has to contend with an onslaught of EV competition and reputational damage. In the first quarter, the company was hit with waves of protests, boycotts and some criminal activity that targeted Tesla vehicles and facilities in response to Musk’s political rhetoric and his work as part of President Donald Trump’s second administration.

After spending $290 million to help return Trump to the White House, Musk is leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where has slashed costs, eliminated regulations and cut tens of thousands of federal jobs.

Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, has also involved himself in European politics, promoting the anti-immigrant AfD party in Germany in February’s elections. Tesla’s business on the continent is struggling.

Across 15 European countries, Tesla’s market share declined to 9.3% in the first quarter from 17.9% in the same period a year earlier, according to data tracked by EU-EVs.com. In Germany, Tesla’s market share in battery electric vehicles plummeted to 4% from about 16% over that stretch.

Sales of Tesla’s electric vehicles made in China came in at 78,828 in March, slumping 11.5% year-on-year, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association released Wednesday. The company is facing rising competition in the region from EV makers such as BYD.

Early in the quarter, Tesla claimed it sold 8,653 EVs during a single January weekend in Canada, the Toronto Star reported, qualifying it for tens of millions in EV subsidy payments that were part of a program that was ending. Canada’s transportation minister later froze the payments and is investigating the validity of the sales.

Tesla did not immediately respond to an email from CNBC asking whether the Canada numbers were included in the Q1 deliveries report.

Tesla shares sank 36% in the first quarter, their steepest drop since the fourth quarter of 2022 and third-biggest decline in the company’s 15 years on the public market. The drop wiped out $460 billion in market cap.

— CNBC’s Samantha Subin contributed reporting

WATCH: Tesla’s growth will accelerate 35% in 2026, says Deepwater’s Gene Munster.

Tesla's growth will accelerate 35% in 2026, says Deepwater's Gene Munster

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that Tesla’s market share in Europe fell from 17.9% in the first quarter of 2024 to 9.3% in the first quarter of 2025. A previous version of this story transposed those numbers.

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Tesla China-made EV sales fall 11.5% in March as competition rises

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Tesla China-made EV sales fall 11.5% in March as competition rises

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wears a ‘Trump Was Right About Everything!’ hat while attending a cabinet meeting at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 24, 2025. 

Carlos Barria | Reuters

Tesla sales of its China-made cars fell in March as competition from local players like BYD intensified.

Tesla sold 78,828 electric vehicles in China in March, down 11.5% year-on-year, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released on Wednesday. However, sales rose 157% compared with the 30,688 cars bought in February.

The U.S. carmaker is facing a number of headwinds in China, in particular mounting challenges from local rivals — which, unlike Tesla, logged growth.

BYD, for example, sold 371,419 so-called new energy vehicles in March, which includes battery hybrid cars, the CPCA said. That was a 23% year-on-year rise.

Sales from Geely, which owns brands such as Volvo Cars, rose 167% year-on-year to 119,696 vehicles last month.

In a bid to push back against competition, Tesla launched a revamped Model Y in January. The automaker’s stock suffered its worst quarter in the first three months of the year in terms of performance since 2022, amid mounting pressures. The company’s shares fell 3.04% by 08:04 a.m. EST in premarket trade on Wednesday.

Concerns have meanwhile mounted that President Donald Trump’s automotive tariffs could impact Tesla’s suppliers in Mexico and China, with the White House involvement of the company’s CEO Elon Musk also receiving backlash. Musk is part of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which is pushing for widespread government job cuts. The tech billionaire said last month that his involvement with DOGE could be hurting Tesla’s stock, amid protests, boycotts and attacks on Tesla dealerships around the world.

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