Nintendo Plummets in List of "Powerful" Japanese Companies

[roseofbattle]

Nintendo Plummets in List of "Powerful" Japanese Companies

Namco Bandai and small companies such as Broccoli and Nihon Falcom were labeled as more powerful than Nintendo, which Toyo Keizai says has not grown.

Nintendo plummeted to 1,647th out of 2,000 Japanese companies ranked in Japan's business and economy magazine Toyo Keizai. Namco Bandai, Broccoli, Nihon Falcom, Capcom, and Tecmo Koei all improved their scores from last year, leaving traditional powerhouses like Nintendo tumbling to the near-bottom of the list this year.

Toyo Keizai ranks the top 2,000 corporations according to four parameters: growth, profitability, safety, and scale. Each of the four parameters are added together to get the highest score. The lowest score possible in a single parameter is 500 with 1,000 being the maximum. Namco Bandai placed 126th overall out of the 2,000 companies listed, scoring 881 in growth, 807 in profitability, 973 in safety, and 644 in scale. Of the Japanese game companies ranked, Namco Bandai ranked the highest.

Most interesting to note is how Nintendo fell from its position of 219th last year to 1,647th this year. The company has been struggling to meet hardware sales as the Wii U has fallen short of expectations and is reconsidering its business structure [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131421-Updated-Nintendo-Considering-Smartphone-Games-Restructuring]. Nintendo got a near-perfect safety rating at 998 with average scores in profitability and scale, but the lowest possible score in growth.

Similarly, Sony dropped in its placement, but not nearly as far as Nintendo did. Ranked 163rd last year, Sony is now 292nd and got a perfect score in scale. It received average scores in profitability and safety but only a 673 in growth.

Broccoli, a small company that publishes anime-related games, was just behind Namco Bandai at 157th with high scores in growth and safety. Nihon Falcom, Ys and The Legend of Heroes publisher, also made the top 200. Placing 173rd, the company received good scores in growth, profitability, and safety, but it scored only a 556 in scale.

Nintendo will have to rethink how it does business. Despite releasing games that were well-received last year (Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds), and a handheld system that sold well, its Wii U hardware has still not caught on. It's not surprising that it received the lowest score in growth.

Source: Dual Shockers [http://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/28539]


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[Atmos Duality]

I wonder if Nintendo's sudden plunge had anything to do with how Iwata didn't step down after announcing its sharp drop in projected revenue. You can hide a lot behind "parameters"; especially those based on any sort of interpretation.

In a business culture as conservative (read: traditional) and concerned with personal shame as Japan's, his retention of position after such failure might be met with more than a slight tinge of spite here.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Capcom improved its score (whatever that means)?!

How in the hell did that happen?

 

[Dragonbums]

Capcom improved its score (whatever that means)?!

How in the hell did that happen?

It'll probably go down again after they do ANYTHING this time around.

 

[Roxas1359]

It'll probably go down again after they do ANYTHING this time around.

But that still makes it bad for Nintendo if Capcom somehow outranks them. 0.o
I'm still surprised at how big that gap is, I was thinking they'd drop at most 150 places, not 1428 places.
Although now I'm curious to see what company is number 2000...
Hopefully this restructure and change of plans will prove good for Nintendo.

 

[Foolery]

Capcom improved its score (whatever that means)?!

How in the hell did that happen?

Monster 4 maybe? Frontier G was also brought to the PS3 this year. And they still have Sengoku Basara 4 to release next month. Point is, despite their failings, they still put out games at a steady rate. At least in Japan, anyway.

 

[Dragonbums]

It'll probably go down again after they do ANYTHING this time around.

But that still makes it bad for Nintendo if Capcom somehow outranks them. 0.o
I'm still surprised at how big that gap is, I was thinking they'd drop at most 150 places, not 1428 places.
Although now I'm curious to see what company is number 2000...
Hopefully this restructure and change of plans will prove good for Nintendo.

I feel this has a lot more to do with public perception on recent news at this point as opposed to actual influence in Japan.

Kind of like how with EA screwing the pooch out of multiple companies and IP's suddenly BoA- a company that was the champion queen at getting "Worst company in America" awards- now gets beat by Electronic Arts, twice in a row. Granted this isn't near that kind of scope the only reason why EA won was venting.

 

[Roxas1359]

I feel this has a lot more to do with public perception on recent news at this point as opposed to actual influence in Japan.

I hate to disappoint you, but Tokyo Keizai, which is where this is from, is one of Japan's 3 leading economic and political magazines. This isn't just a public opinion magazine that holds no weight like how the Consumerist's "Worst Company in America" award was, this holds a bit more weight.

 

[Dragonbums]

I feel this has a lot more to do with public perception on recent news at this point as opposed to actual influence in Japan.

I hate to disappoint you, but Tokyo Keizai, which is where this is from, is one of Japan's 3 leading economic and political magazines. This isn't just a public opinion magazine that holds no weight like how the Consumerist's "Worst Company in America" award was, this holds a bit more weight.

Ah, okay. I wonder then, how do they rate a businesses influence in Japan? Financials is definitely one of them.

 

[Roxas1359]

Ah, okay. I wonder then, how do they rate a businesses influence in Japan? Financials is definitely one of them.

Seems it's based off of current economic standing, in which Nintendo forecasts a loss of $335 million which will affect their stock. The list is determines by profitability, growth, and safety (basically working conditions, etc.).
Nintendo was marred by the fact that they received a 500 on growth, which is the lowest possible score to get, while doing average on the other fronts.
The other thing is, this isn't something that people can vote on like how the Consumerist's "Worst Company in America" award was like, hence why EA won, this is inside from people looking at the market itself with no internet votes to sway it (thanks Consumerist, BoA should have won. >.>)

 

[kanetsb]

That's two down... (MS)

One to go, and the PC Gaming Master Race shall control the world!

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

All aboard the Nintendo Hate Train, CHOO CHOO. Just one article after another that says there in trouble. Seriously, I don't think Iwata or anyone else should step down as much as they should take pay cuts like what Iwata did just a year ago. Then they should take that saved money and some of the big ol'piggy bank to do at least one of three things: lower the cost of Wii Us massively, fund some big project or first/second party developer to make something the world market will like, or go on an advertising campaign to show people what the Wii U is AND is capable of. Maybe make a good Metroid while they're at it.

The other thing is, this isn't something that people can vote on like how the Consumerist's "Worst Company in America" award was like, hence why EA won, this is inside from people looking at the market itself with no internet votes to sway it (thanks Consumerist, BoA should have won. >.>)

Too bad, too. Bank of America, a company that's putting people on the streets with all their future, could have at least seen something's wrong if they won first place. Now they just see Consumerist's voters are just those game nerds that are sore about paying too much for their hobby. At least with this professional survey, maybe someone in Ninty will think "Ah man, we need to step up our game."

 

[Khymerion]

If investors start to get squeemish, that big war chest of money Nintendo has can evaporate quickly. And investors don't care about how good the game play of the next super mario game is going to be or how much gamers love such and such franchise. If they have a few more 'core' game launches that are met with mediocre results, they are going to pull their investments which drains resources away from projects that Nintendo might want to do... like develop new hardware.

Which in the end is alright. Nintendo has been sitting on its laurels for far too long, depending on evergreen titles and nostalgic fan loyalty. They actually deserve the backlash from the people who actually have money and seek to invest it for a share of the profits and dividends... and that is what you really are wanting... a pay out. And don't kid yourself. Every year a publicly traded company does not pay out their dividends, their share of the profits to the investors, is a year of weakened confidence for further investment. Nintendo has not exactly been too good at paying out their dividends to investors as of late.

Consider that in 2009, Nintendo dividend was 1.40. 2010, 1.10. 2011, 0.40. 2012, a mere 0.16. I don't want to imagine how very little they are going to pay out for 2013. That does not scream to investors a very healthy company. That means that the investor is seeing next to nothing in return for their investment. Compared to their highest value in ten years during the heyday of 2008 with the Wii frenzy at over 73 a share... Nintendo stock is only 16.68 currently... up a bit from new years at a low of 13.31 but not exactly impressive, even in the face of good sales of the 3DS.

So the writing is on the wall for at least the investors and business types... Nintendo is not exactly a good company right now. And every single less than intelligent move that Iwata and the staff make is only going to continue to erode that confidence in the people who actually at the end of the day decide the fate of a corporation financially.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Capcom improved its score (whatever that means)?!

How in the hell did that happen?

In Japan Capcom releases better games in general. They also still have a massive arcade gaming culture in Japan which North America has frankly lost. Capcom is a major player in that respect along with Namco Bandai.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

That's a pretty nebulous metric. Then again, people always do love putting arbitrary numbers to very abstract concepts.

 

[Dragonbums]

-snip-

From what I understand BoA has been winning that award for a pretty damn long while now and it's clear that it means absolutely zero to them. I think nothing short of an honest to God business failure will make them change their ways.

 

[major_chaos]

There was a time when I would have been sad about this, but Nintendo has spent the last two console generations doing absolutely everything to drive me away. At this point all I can feel is satisfaction and the small hope they will go back to not sucking someday.

 

[bluegate]

That's only ideal for you and a few other people entitled whiners. If that's the idea a new Nintendo CEO has regardless of their money making handhelds, and a console that still has a chance to turn things around then they are even worse than Iwata. Especially when they only have to look at the example of SEGA. Whom has lost a lot of it's IP's to obscurity and overall influence in the gaming sphere since going third party

Sega may have lost those things since going third party, but they didn't necessarily lose those things because they went third party. Keep in mind, I'm not arguing for or against Nintendo going third party.

 

[Dragonbums]

That's only ideal for you and a few other people entitled whiners. If that's the idea a new Nintendo CEO has regardless of their money making handhelds, and a console that still has a chance to turn things around then they are even worse than Iwata. Especially when they only have to look at the example of SEGA. Whom has lost a lot of it's IP's to obscurity and overall influence in the gaming sphere since going third party

Sega may have lost those things since going third party, but they didn't necessarily lose those things because they went third party. Keep in mind, I'm not arguing for or against Nintendo going third party.

It's still overall a pretty big fall from grace and whether or not it's since or because of third party doesn't change the fact that all of these occurred in the time that SEGA became third party.

Which is basically what I was getting at in my comment in response to the OP that thinks that a good potential replacement for Iwata would be somebody who will horrendously downsize the company and their profits to third party to appeal to the minority of users who don't feel like playing Mario on Nintendo consoles, and ironically enough have no problems buying their competitors consoles to play their dev exclusive content.