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[Update]: Nintendo Losses Mount

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by Matthew Kato on October 27, 2011 at 09:50 AM
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[Update]: Nintendo has officially reported its fiscal results, and things are worse than originally speculated.

Yesterday there was a report from Nikkei that Nintendo would announce a group pre-tax loss of approximately 100 billion yen ($1.3 billion) for the half-year, but according to Nintendo, this figure actually turned out to be 107 billion yen.

Nintendo is forecasting a 20 billion yen loss for the full fiscal year that ends in March 2012, and which includes the upcoming holiday season – this is a marked swing from a July estimate of a 20 billion profit for the same time period. The company says that it's being hurt by an unfavorable exchange rate, but also by "weaker than expected hardware sales."

Although Nintendo says that the 3DS' price cut has improved sales of the system – which sold only 3.07 million units worldwide over the last six months – it admitted that the handheld "has yet to have many hit titles." This may change when Super Mario 3D Land comes out on November 13.

Some other worldwide numbers from Nintendo for the past six months (parenthetical figures are for the same period the previous year):

  • 3DS software sales: 8.13 million
  • DS handheld sales: 2.58 million (down from 6.69 million)
  • DS software sales: 28.99 million (down from 54.84 million)
  • Wii hardware sales: 3.35 million (down from 4.97 million)
  • Wii software sales: 36.45 million (down from 65.21 million)

 

[Original Story]: Nintendo may be in more fiscal hot water than it originally anticipated, as the company is expected to reveal larger losses for the first half of the fiscal year ending in September.

Nikkei reports that Nintendo will "likely" report a group pre-tax loss of around 100 billion yen tomorrow. Nikkei says this is nearly twice the expected loss of 55 billion yen, and much more than last year's loss for the same time period this year, which was 4.1 billion yen.

The greater than expected loss is reportedly due to currency exchange losses of the yen versus the euro.

Nintendo will make its official midterm earnings report tomorrow, so we shall know what's what soon enough.

 

[via Andriasang]

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  • by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 09:57 AM
    So then this was largely an economics incident rather than solely their fault. Regardless, pull it together Nintendo! You can do this!
  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 09:57 AM
    Except it barely matters because they probably have more cash buried in vaults in Nintendo headquarters than Apple. If there's one company that can afford to lose a shitload of money its probably Nintendo.
  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 09:58 AM
    And so ends the reign of nintendo
  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:00 AM
    I'm sure they will be fine after November 20th.
  • by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:02 AM
    So, that's over a billion dollars in losses right? 100 yen is like $1.20 or something?

    I see a lot of 'expected' in this. I'm curious how they expect the company to lose so much without solid numbers. That's a lot of money, any way you slice it. I'll be curious to see how this pans out.

    Edit: Wow, a lot worse than I thought. That just feels like way too much money to be casually losing. I guess Nintendo has some serious cash. Anyway, sales look about right. They're phasing out systems, and the 3DS isn't picking up the slack. I still don't understand why they're booting the Wii so early. Import some games, emphasize that low price point, get some more sales before Wii U hits.
  • by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:05 AM
    In the immortal words of man falling off a cliff, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo!"
  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:09 AM
    I hope this won't lead to the end. With Nintendo gone, who will laugh from above as Xbox and PS3 fanboys battle it out below?
  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:13 AM
    Until nintedo releases a console that lets me play actual games and is better then copetiton I won't care that much about it...

    btw don't give me a history lesson, I loved nintedo in the past but in this day and age they should really try and compete with other comanies if they wanna make money, wii only succeded because it was a first of a kind with some good titles and cheap at the same time... they really have to pull something out of a bag soon and wii U is certainly not gonna be it.
  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:19 AM
    Well Nintendo, watchagonnado about it brother?
  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:21 AM
    I completely understand this. The WiiU has little to offer to the casual gamer these days. It's literally a tablet that connects to your t.v. I just don't see that being successful. I think the Xbox 360 might be the next "Wii." Don't be surprised of M$ keeps the 360 in development till 2025, with upgrades to the Kinect for the 360. By doing that, the age old technology will be affordable, and upgraded Kinect will be affordable also.
  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:25 AM

    I would have never guessed that.  What, with the unveiling of their super new DS:XL package the other day, I figured they were doing extremely well.  Huh.

  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:29 AM
    I guess those losses prove that Nintendo needs to change their strategy. Stop catering to everybody and make games that people will want to play. Nothing wrong with making another Mario Kart or Zelda game but we need more games towards gamers. You will fail when you try to please everybody.
  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:35 AM
    I've said it for years. Nintendo should just become a studio and make millions and millions taking there dominate franchises and make them for Xbox and ps3. Can everyone say Zelda in 1080p.
  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:38 AM

    Oh well

  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:48 AM

    Tough times for Nintendo financially. I'm sure they'll pull together once Mario hits the 3DS.

  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:52 AM
    Well you have to release new products to make money and Nintendo hasn't done that. I have a 3DS and the current library pretty bad except for a couple of nostalgic gems. Beyond that, they have all but stopped supporting the Wii. A totally unpromoted Kirby Returns to Dreamland and of course Zelda are coming but other than that there has been nothing to get for that system for months and months. None of this news surprises me. I am sure they will have a much better 2nd half of the year though. Monster Hunter Tri G on the 3DS will be huge in Japan and Skyward Sword should be equally successful if not more so. If you build it Nintendo they will come...but you have to build it.
  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:55 AM
    I doubt it's just an exchange rate issue, slow Wii sales, disappointing 3DS sales they are taking a loss on that means less software sales than anticipated, added to trying to (so far unsuccessfully) market the WiiU and I think Nintendo is probably getting a little worried.
  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:56 AM
    Try releasing a game this year and see what happens Nintendo.
  • by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:57 AM

    They need to turn around a little bit. I have been becoming less of a Nintendo fan the past few years.

  •
    by Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 11:18 AM
    That's what happens when you charge a premium price for a handheld system made with yesterday's technology. Also, it's what happens when you let your home console languish for two years with almost no quality support. Nintendo seems to be trying to Sega themselves out of the hardware business.
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