GameStop Sales Slide Into 2012

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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GameStop Sales Slide Into 2012


Increasing digital sales weren't enough to keep GameStop's overall numbers from declining in the first quarter of 2012.

$2 billion in sales over a three month period doesn't seem like much to complain about, but it's not the best news ever for the folks at GameStop. The figure represents a decrease of 12.2 percent over the same period in 2011, when the company earned $2.28 billion. Net income for the quarter was $72.5 million, down from $80.4 million in the first quarter of 2011.

Digital sales were actually up substantially in the quarter, climbing 23 percent, while mobile sales hit $12 million, which GameStop said is "on plan to reach the company's goal for mobile sales of $150 to $200 million in 2012." Unfortunately, sales in the pre-owned and "Other" category, which includes digital and mobile, were down "slightly" for the quarter, while sales of new hardware and software "declined more than expected," leading to the overall dip.

The slowdown isn't entirely surprising, given the looming end of the current console cycle, and GameStop CEO said that despite the slowdown, the company hit its earning targets for the quarter thanks to "gross margin expansion and positive profit contributions" from pre-owned, mobile and digital sales. "We expect those segments to fill the profitability gap as we transition to the new console cycle," he added.

For the second quarter of 2012, GameStop is predicting a comparable store sales drop of five percent to 11 percent, while full-year sales are expected to range from a five percent decline to flat. GameStop's share price [http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GME] dropped a couple of points on the day as well and currently sit at $18.52, down from a close of $20.85 on May 16.


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Beautiful End

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Feb 15, 2011
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inb4 random GameStop hate.

Well, it was a smart move out of them to start selling digital gamer. Problem is most people don't know about that yet. But with the right amount of time, they'll do fine.
I'm actually okay with that because not all of us can afford to buy digital games with a credit card or credits or whatever.

It's not truly their fault sales overall went down. If anything, I blame the stupid high prices of games and pretty much everything game related. I'm sure the next gen. prices will be even higher and sadly, I might have to give up on this hobby of mine. For I do not poop $100 bills. Yet.

Also, once they announce the next gen. consoles, sales will go back up. Such is the cycle of GameStop. Right now, they're going through the sugar-low period.

Also, don't you guys have a different GameStop image? It seems you always use the same one from back when GTAIV was released. Could be just me, though.

(Also, blue counters at GameStop? wtf? That actually looks better than dull grey.)
 

Hazy992

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Aug 1, 2010
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Aren't game sales overall down from this time last year?
 

medv4380

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Feb 26, 2010
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At least he sited the actual cause as the winding down of the current console cycle.
 

ScatterBen

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Dec 3, 2009
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It's unsurprising that used game sales are down - who wants to get handicapped by buying a game you then need to pay £8 to access all the content for? Especially when you go on Amazon and it's as cheap as the used version is. The only reason I buy used now is older games that are too expensive to buy brand new. Otherwise you just hang on for a month or two and the price plummets. I got Mass Effect 3 a couple of weeks ago for £23.