Nintendo Profits Nosedive

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Nintendo Profits Nosedive


Nintendo [http://www.nintendo.com] has cut its Wii and DS sales forecasts in the wake of major slumps in revenue and profit, making a successful launch of the new 3DS handheld even more vital to the company's fortunes.

After years of dominating the console market, it looks like Nintendo might finally be feeling the squeeze. Net income for the nine month period ending December 31 dropped 74 percent year-over-year to ¥49.6 billion ($597 milllion). Revenues over the same period slipped 32 percent to ¥808 billion ($9.7 billion) while operating profit was down 47 percent to ¥158.8 billion ($1.9 billion). Nintendo cut its sales forecast for the Wii by 8.6 percent and the DS by 4.3 percent, and is now predicting its lowest annual profit in six years.

"The results today are much worse than expected, casting doubts on the company's full-year outlook," said Tokai Tokyo Securities analyst Yusuke Tsunoda. "This puts even more pressure on Nintendo to make the 3DS debut a success."

Nintendo managed to put out 13.7 million Wii systems over the nine month span, down 20 percent from the previous year, and 15.7 million DS handhelds, a drop of 33 percent. The company also reaffirmed its plan to ship four million 3DS systems in the first month of launch to avoid the shortages that plagued the early years of the Wii.

Source: Bloomberg [http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-27/nintendo-says-nine-month-profit-declines-to-603-million-from-year-earlier.html]


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Negatempest

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May 10, 2008
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Not really surprised. Not that I think the Wii is a bad system, but that it has practically saturated the marked with LOTS of Wii's. So now it has to do something different if it want's to continue to make a profit.
 

DeadlyYellow

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Negatempest said:
Not really surprised. Not that I think the Wii is a bad system, but that it has practically saturated the marked with LOTS of Wii's. So now it has to do something different if it want's to continue to make a profit.
It would be a better system if Nintendo allowed their products to enter the same price deterioration as a PS3 or 360. Super Mario Galaxy will still cost you the same price new now that it did when it was released over three years ago.
 

Delusibeta

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Mar 7, 2010
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Negatempest said:
Not really surprised. Not that I think the Wii is a bad system, but that it has practically saturated the marked with LOTS of Wii's. So now it has to do something different if it want's to continue to make a profit.
Yep, saturation would be my guess as well. I'll expect them to still top 100k sold by end of 2012 at the very latest.
 

temporalcrux

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DeadlyYellow said:
Negatempest said:
Not really surprised. Not that I think the Wii is a bad system, but that it has practically saturated the marked with LOTS of Wii's. So now it has to do something different if it want's to continue to make a profit.
It would be a better system if Nintendo allowed their products to enter the same price deterioration as a PS3 or 360. Super Mario Galaxy will still cost you the same price new now that it did when it was released over three years ago.
Yeah, this is one of the reasons I hate Nintendo. They maintain maximum profits by never declining their initial value, though the sell-back price slips more by the week. You buy a game new, sell it back the same week, and you already lost 60% of the value. The week of release. You buy it new and sell it back the same week, 3 years after first release, and you're lucky to make 10% of the money back
 

Atmos Duality

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Delusibeta said:
Negatempest said:
Not really surprised. Not that I think the Wii is a bad system, but that it has practically saturated the marked with LOTS of Wii's. So now it has to do something different if it want's to continue to make a profit.
Yep, saturation would be my guess as well.
4 years of powerful sales for both consoles.
If it isn't saturation, I'll eat my hat.
 

Gahars

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Feb 4, 2008
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It's looking like everyone who wants a Wii/DS has one at this point, so this isn't too surprising.

I'm interested to see how much the 3DS changes thing. Can lightning strike thrice?
 

Lord Beautiful

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Aug 13, 2008
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Perhaps if they had adequate software, they wouldn't be having this problem. I'd imagine this:
temporalcrux said:
DeadlyYellow said:
Negatempest said:
Not really surprised. Not that I think the Wii is a bad system, but that it has practically saturated the marked with LOTS of Wii's. So now it has to do something different if it want's to continue to make a profit.
It would be a better system if Nintendo allowed their products to enter the same price deterioration as a PS3 or 360. Super Mario Galaxy will still cost you the same price new now that it did when it was released over three years ago.
Yeah, this is one of the reasons I hate Nintendo. They maintain maximum profits by never declining their initial value, though the sell-back price slips more by the week. You buy a game new, sell it back the same week, and you already lost 60% of the value. The week of release. You buy it new and sell it back the same week, 3 years after first release, and you're lucky to make 10% of the money back
also has something to do with it. And this:

cursedseishi said:
Negatempest said:
Not really surprised. Not that I think the Wii is a bad system, but that it has practically saturated the marked with LOTS of Wii's. So now it has to do something different if it want's to continue to make a profit.
are.you.the.god.its.me.vader said:
Maybe people are just saving for the 3DS? Why would I buy a DSi when I'll just be outdated in a few months.
Pretty much the reason why right there folks.
By targetting a crowd that doesn't normally care about games, they've received just that: a crowd that doesn't normally care about games. Toy companies don't focus on distributing the same two or three toys alone for six years. By treating their product like a toy, it sells like one, for better and worse.
 

Corpse XxX

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Jan 19, 2009
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I've always had the feeling that Nintendo consoles, the handheld and Wii, is something that one would get tired of quite quick.. Mostly for casual gamers who's attention span for gaming don't really last..

And now that Sony and Microsoft also have motion sensors, the appeal for Nintendo products has fallen drastically i believe..
 

8bitmaster

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Nov 9, 2009
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I know exactly why this happened. Nintendo's 3rd party support. They give licensing to everything, no matter how much it sells or doesn't. So people who bought nintendo consoles see nothing good coming out, or people who were planning on buying them for games down the road decided against it and borrowed from a friend, or just went the route of the consoles for true gamers (ps3 360 pc) and have been straying from nintendo's "family friendly" outlook for an actual game experience.

edit: I have both a wii and a ds. I haven't touched my ds since spirit tracks a long time back, and haven't touched the wii for a few months now. Nothing good has come out, and Steam sales where calling to me at the time.
 

tahrey

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Sep 18, 2009
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I'm voting the same way. Pretty much anyone who wants a Wii or DS has one by now. They're cheaper and more accessible than their competitors so the monetary/age/ability/interest barrier to ownership is far lower, and AFAIK they don't break down as much ;)

They're definitely the most popular out of people I know who own any kind of console.
I'm probably the only person I can think of who'd be in the market for something like that but doesn't have one, and that's only because I know I'd spend ALL my spare time on it. Basically, they've made it TOO attractive.

Time to try diversifying, or at least bringing out something new. Fresh versions have always rolled along in the gameboy arena and done fairly well, so the 3DS could be a much needed boost. The Wii's gone from underpowered to downright primitive-looking in that same timescale too... wanna bet they DON'T have a new "main" console brewing, just waiting for 3D connection standards and the like to settle down?

Still, hopefully those rampant sales mean they've got a fair old bit of cash piled up to see them through and to use on R&D.