Nintendo Misses Profits Forecast By 50 Percent

Earnest Cavalli

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Nintendo Misses Profits Forecast By 50 Percent



Nintendo's latest earnings report is dire, as sales of both the 3DS handheld and the Wii U console lag far behind the company's initial predictions.

According to newly-released financial reports, Nintendo recorded profits of $71.2 million over the course of the last fiscal year. This stands in stark contrast to the estimated $140.9 million in profit that the company believed it might attract. Overall sales were likewise disappointing, standing at only $6.3 billion, despite prior estimates of $6.74 billion (which was itself a revised, more conservative estimate from January of this year).

It's not all doom and gloom for The House That Mario Built however. While profits are far less than what the firm expected to see, it should be remembered that last year Nintendo posted a sizable loss of $433 million.

So, what's to blame for Nintendo's financial shortcomings? The company blames poor sales of the 3DS handheld and Wii U console. As GamesIndustry.biz points out, the latter device sold a mere 390,000 units over the last quarter - a worryingly low figure given that the Wii U launched in November of 2012. Overall hardware sales seem disappointing as well, with the Wii U only moving 3.45 million units, in contrast to the 4 million Nintendo initially projected. Software sales were likewise disappointing, with only 13.42 million units sold during the prior fiscal year.

According to Nintendo, the Wii U's top selling titles were Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U. The former sold 2.6 million units (no doubt bolstered by its appearance as a pack-in title with the Wii U's "Deluxe Edition" iteration), while the latter sold 2.15 million units.

While the 3DS handheld was more successful than its console counterpart, it too failed to meet Nintendo's initial estimates, selling only 13.95 million units (of an initially projected 15 million). This places lifetime sales of the 3DS at 31.09 million units, with 95.03 million software units sold during the gadget's lifespan. The top-selling title for the 3DS was New Super Mario Bros. 2, which Nintendo claims sold a respectable 6.42 million copies globally over the course of the past fiscal year.

Looking ahead, Nintendo offers conservative estimates of how well the Wii U might perform during 2014. The company expects to move 9 million Wii U consoles during the next fiscal year, as well as 18 million 3DS handhelds. Nintendo expects profits to increase during the next year, and has estimated total net profits of $553 million.

Source: GamesIndustry [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-04-24-nintendo-misses-profits-forecasts-by-50-percent-due-to-weak-wii-u-3ds-sales]

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GAunderrated

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DVS BSTrD said:
Then your predictions were full of crap, we're still waiting on a decent library. You DO know you have to give people a REASON to by your consol. This industry's appetite for self destruction is ridiculous.
My WiiU has been collecting dust since I beat the launch games. Legocity Undercover might make me give a reason to use my WiiU but I can wait for a sale on the game.

They do need to get their asses in gear on main titles.
 
Dec 14, 2009
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You mean?

You have to have games people want to buy before they even touch the console?

Well slap my arse and call me Bert.
 

itsthesheppy

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I recall posting recently in a Wii U related thread where I snarkily commented on the shoddy sales of the unit and a user sniped back at me that the Wii U was doing just fine. It's a shame that the internet is so fleeting; this is a glorious I Told You So moment.

I really hope the PS4 and Xbox Another One fare about as well. Maybe then we'll buck the trend of them constantly churning out new consoles, and instead focus on making those consoles something I'd actually like to buy.
 

FinalDream

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I own both, while I adore my 3DS XL, I'm lacking games to play on the Wii U. I like the hardware. Just need more software. I bought the console on launch (mostly on trade) and only have three games (Super Mario, ZombiU & Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate). Each are a blast -especially Monster Hunter - but I can't help feel disappointed in it, overall.

I'm really waiting for the JRPG's to turn up!

3DS on the other hand, I love, I think it might be my favourite handheld.
 

TheMadDoctorsCat

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I know everyone will (and has) jumped on the reasons why Nintendo is doing badly, but I'd like to take it from the other end (oo-er!) and ask them: what, AGAIN? Who's making these game sales predictions lately? Michael "There's no hurricane" Fish?
 

Eicha

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Oh, silly Nintendo. If you want us to buy a WiiU, MAKE SOME GORRAM GAMES FOR IT!!!!
 

Mr. Omega

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Now I understand the lagging WiiU sales. Lack of games, all that good stuff. It'll pick up once stuff actually starts coming out. Stupid choice on their part that they are leaving a big gap between games. Still, there's a light at the end of this tunnel.

But the 3DS? It's selling faster than the DS was, has all sorts killer apps and good software. It sells at least 100,000 units a week. The thing's a hit, despite the harsher climate for a system like it. Nintendo usually makes at least somewhat reasonable expectations, but 15 million? Really?

Still, the overall thing is "we're making money. Just not as much as we want." Better than last year's "we're losing money". Certainly better than quite a few other game companies...
 

GenGenners

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itsthesheppy said:
Maybe then we'll buck the trend of them constantly churning out new consoles
I stopped taking you seriously here. What was this console generation again? Oh yeah, excruciatingly long.
 

thiosk

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Theres no games on the damn thing yet.

However, Wii sold like hotcakes with the same lack of games. It had been out for almost two years before you could go somewhere and reliably pick one up.

In my old age, its metroid\zelda or bust, baby.
 

itsthesheppy

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GenGenners said:
itsthesheppy said:
Maybe then we'll buck the trend of them constantly churning out new consoles
I stopped taking you seriously here. What was this console generation again? Oh yeah, excruciatingly long.
You must be a young'n. Don't worry, as time goes on you'll start to appreciate how short a year really is.

Exactly what, I ask you, does a little more graphical and processor power bring to the table? This is not a market crying out for new consoles. This is a market, rather, that is in desperate need of a triple-A industry that isn't on life support and a more diverse selection of top quality new IP.

But no, line up the new gimmicks. Remember how much they banged on about graphics and processor power before? What was the only thing that mattered in the end? If the game played well, had a good story, and brought something fresh. More polygons and a share button and new motion controllers and extra screens won't buy that.
 

Terramax

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Well, at least they're making a profit, rather than hemorrhaging money the way Sony are reported to have done over the last year (or few). However, you know Nintendo are in trouble when even the Nintendo fanboys are complaining there are not games for their consoles, seeing as they're usually more likely to be seen badmouthing their mothers than the big Ninty.

The worst news of all of this is that it makes the chances of seeing any original IPs for the consoles even more unlikely, as Ninty decide to stick to sequels for guaranteed profit........that's if there is a less chance than 0.0%
 

AdamG3691

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people complaining about not enough games still?

I've played on monster hunter for 150 hours and still only got to the G rank stuff
that game ALONE has made the console worth buying, did the PS3 have a game that was worth playing for that long this time after release. (£2 per hour roughly, a movie costs £4.50 per hour, so cost/time the WiiU has beaten buying a ton of movies)

plus, there's a smash bros confirmed for the WiiU, pikmin 3 later this year, and a HD remake of LoZ:WW


people's main argument of "there's no games yet" is just plain wrong, what they really mean is "there's no games yet that I want"

I've got:
MH3U
batman arkham city
AC3
nintendo land
super mario bros U
a few of the virtual console games
and MY ENTIRE WII LIBRARY (and soon, the entire virtual console library too)

and people still say that there isn't enough to justify buying it?
 

Atmos Duality

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It's almost as if creating game consoles without any games didn't generate shitloads of profits.
Nintendo is still in the black, but that's not a good sign for them.

This is the year to break the WiiU's coverage wide open. Because once the Durango and PS4 move past their Launch Crap stage, the Wii U is going to look pretty damn useless to both developers and gamers UNLESS it gets a strong install base; and to get that install base, it needs GAMES. More than just Mario, Zelda, Pokemon (and Monster Hunter...speaking of..).

And since I keep seeing this tired excuse popping up everywhere to defend the WiiU, I'm just getting it out of my system now.

"WiiU is awesome! It's got Monster Hunter!"

Oh my goodness! You're right! How could I possibly overlook a game that EVERY OTHER CONSOLE HAS HAD FOR YEARS.

PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, PS3, even the Wii already has a version of Monster Hunter.
It's not a selling point for the 3DS and WiiU when all of their competition beat them to the punch.
 

Eternal_Lament

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AdamG3691 said:
plus, there's a smash bros confirmed for the WiiU, pikmin 3 later this year, and a HD remake of LoZ:WW
All well and good, but as you mentioned this all appears to be later year stuff. No sense in buying hardware now when you can get it for cheaper at the same time.


people's main argument of "there's no games yet" is just plain wrong, what they really mean is "there's no games yet that I want"

I've got:
MH3U
batman arkham city
AC3
nintendo land
super mario bros U
a few of the virtual console games
and MY ENTIRE WII LIBRARY (and soon, the entire virtual console library too)

and people still say that there isn't enough to justify buying it?
I would like to point out that, of the things you listed, about three of those games can be considered "new" If someone already has a Wii, the Wii Library/Virtual Console stuff is already secure. AC3 and Arkham City are games people will inevitably get for other consoles (especially in City's case of being out for so long prior) in essence that, as sequels, you can make a good assumption that the people most vested in those games already had the consoles necessary to play the original games.

Obviously there are more games, but for now, those 3 games, 2 of which are more like remakes than anything else, probably aren't really enough to justify the purchase. For you it's been a solid investment, but with so little there I'm not surprised that others may consider waiting/not purchasing at all.

Back on topic: The WiiU issue is, as mentioned, simply a fault on Nintendo's for the gap in releases that is currently happening. It's obviously more complicated than that, but really this is probably the bigger of deals. As for the 3DS, hard to say. As sales go they seem fine, but of course this appears less as a "My gosh! We Fucked up! It's all over!" and more "Alright, maybe we should lower our expectations a bit, if only so that we don't get psyched up."

Can they manage their current goals? Maybe, hard to tell though. I'm more likely to believe that Nintendo will reach the 18 million goal for the 3DS as opposed to the 9 million for the WiiU, or at least, that's definitely a goal I only imagine will start to become possible towards the last stretch of the year. They'd be cutting things pretty close though.

captcha: good for nothing
Well, I guess we know how captcha feels about it's investment
 

JokerboyJordan

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Sep 6, 2009
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AdamG3691 said:
people complaining about not enough games still?

I've played on monster hunter for 150 hours and still only got to the G rank stuff
that game ALONE has made the console worth buying, did the PS3 have a game that was worth playing for that long this time after release. (£2 per hour roughly, a movie costs £4.50 per hour, so cost/time the WiiU has beaten buying a ton of movies)

plus, there's a smash bros confirmed for the WiiU, pikmin 3 later this year, and a HD remake of LoZ:WW


people's main argument of "there's no games yet" is just plain wrong, what they really mean is "there's no games yet that I want"

I've got:
MH3U
batman arkham city
AC3
nintendo land
super mario bros U
a few of the virtual console games
and MY ENTIRE WII LIBRARY (and soon, the entire virtual console library too)

and people still say that there isn't enough to justify buying it?
They mean there's nothing new. 3 of those games on that list are ports, one is shovelware and one is...just Mario.

The entire Wii library can be played on a Wii, meaning no reason to buy the new console. The fact that it will be quickly outpaced by the PS4 and the next Xbox mean that it will most likely be left behind, as developers make games that the WiiU simply can't handle, just like with the Wii.
 

Sean951

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Mar 30, 2011
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So Nintendo's PROFITS are less than expected, meanwhile the 360 has been a net-loss for Microsoft and I don't think the Playstation ever actually managed to MAKE money for poor old Sony.