Nintendo blamed poor console sales for its 43.2 billion yen (€404m) net loss and 36% drop in revenue. The figures for the financial year ending on March 31st are the gaming giant’s first losses in more than three decades.
A year ago when it posted a 77.6 billion yen (€725m) profit, Nintendo expected to sell 13 million Wii consoles, 16 million 3DS handhelds and 11 million DS handhelds but actual sales were well short of these targets. Today’s results reported sales of 9.84 million Wii consoles and 13.5 million Nintendo 3DS consoles and 5.1 Nintendo DS handhelds.
The explosion of online gaming via smartphones has really hurt the portable DS consoles despite the price being cut by up to 40% in August, whereas the ‘age’ of the Wii (it’s pretty old now) seems to have hurt console sales. The continued strength of the yen also contributed to the company’s earnings as the company keeps vast sums of its cash offshore.
Undeterred by today’s results, Nintendo has vowed to return to profit next year projecting a 26% increase on revenues. Sales should be helped by the release of high profile games such as Super Mario Bros 2 for the DS but especially by the arrival of the much anticipated Wii U which should hit the shelves in time for Christmas.
