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Nintendo Profits Down 30 Percent After Holiday Quarter, 20 Million Amiibos Sold
Nintendo has reported its financial performance for the nine months ending December 31, 2015. The company shows a slight dip in revenue, with profits down significantly compared to last year.
The publisher is still comfortably in positive territory despite a 31.9 percent fall in profits to ¥40.6 billion ($425.7 million). Sales dropped 3.9 percent to ¥425.7 million ($3.5 million) for the first nine months of the fiscal year.
On the Wii U front, Nintendo is within striking distance of its full-year goal of 3.4 million units shipped to retail. So far, 3.06 million of that target have been accounted for.
The company will also likely meet its software goal for the platform of 23 million. Strong performance of Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, Mario Kart 8, and Yoshi’s Woolly World (all having crossed the 1 million unit mark) have helped.
Splatoon has now sold more than 4 million units, with Super Mario Maker trailing for now at 3.34 million. Nintendo looks ahead to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, Pokken Tournament, Star Fox Zero, and later this year, The Legend of Zelda on Wii U.
On the 3DS side, the company says that a majority of units sold in the first nine months were New 3DS and New 3DS XL versions. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer is the best-selling game of this fiscal year so far, with 2.93 million units.
A number of big games return to the million-seller list for the current fiscal year, including Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (combined) at 1.52 million, Mario Kart 7 at 1.33 million, Super Smash Bros. at 1.16 million, and Tri Force Heroes at 1.08 million.
The Amiibo fad continues like a runaway train. 20.5 million figures have been sold so far this fiscal year. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer cards, which are another type of Amiibo offering, have sold 21.5 million units this year. According to Nintendo, 31 million of the figures have been shipped worldwide since the product line launched.
Nintendo has not put a fine point on when we can expect its first mobile game. Miitomo, which was announced in 2015, is simply listed as “scheduled for release,” but no date is listed. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, company CEO Tatsumi Kimishima said the second game will feature a familiar Nintendo character.
The publisher is also remaining silent for now about its next console, the NX. When it was announced in 2015, the company said that more information will arrive in 2016. Kimishima told the Wall Street Journal that information will be coming "not too late in the course of the year."
[Source: Nintendo]
Our Take
With such strong performance from Splatoon, I suspect Nintendo will be eager to make it a recurring franchise. And for those that have been bitten by the Amiibo bug? You might want to clear more shelf space. With sales of 20.5 million units, you can bet that there will be more.
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