Nintendo posts lowest profit in 27 years, smartphones significantly to blame.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nintendo Co Ltd posted its first-ever quarterly operating loss, cut the price of its 3DS handheld game player and slashed its full-year profit forecast far below market expectations, hit by sluggish sales and a strong yen.
Increasing competition from a growing share of gamers using mobile devices like Apple Inc's iPhone and iPad, as well as gadgets based on Google Inc's Android operating system, has presented challenges for Nintendo, which began as a playing card company.
The weak result posted on Thursday confirmed investor fears that the video games maker is too focused on hardware when the market is shifting toward software, with games played on the Internet and on smartphones seen as key drivers of industry growth.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nintendo Co Ltd posted its first-ever quarterly operating loss, cut the price of its 3DS handheld game player and slashed its full-year profit forecast far below market expectations, hit by sluggish sales and a strong yen.
Thing is, how many people actually want to carry around multiple single-use devices, whether they be handheld game players, MP3 players, PDAs or dumb-phones.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thermal
Increasing competition from a growing share of gamers using mobile devices like Apple Inc's iPhone and iPad, as well as gadgets based on Google Inc's Android operating system, has presented challenges for Nintendo, which began as a playing card company.
These days smart-phones are so developed and powerful, they can do multiple tasks extremely well. Often better than single-use devices.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thermal
The weak result posted on Thursday confirmed investor fears that the video games maker is too focused on hardware when the market is shifting toward software, with games played on the Internet and on smartphones seen as key drivers of industry growth.
There is an old saying in industry, which goes something like. If your main product is going to be obsoleted, you better have something good to replace it.
I'm not sure what their exact sales have been, but by talking with friends and other people I know, it seems like most of their sales have been from the Gameboy line, while the console line seems to have never been as great as the N64 days.
My cousin got the DS XL or whatever the new large screened DS is called, and I can say it is fairly disappointing. You can see every enlarged pixel, plus the size just isn't that great...
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I'm not sure what their exact sales have been, but by talking with friends and other people I know, it seems like most of their sales have been from the Gameboy line, while the console line seems to have never been as great as the N64 days.
My cousin got the DS XL or whatever the new large screened DS is called, and I can say it is fairly disappointing. You can see every enlarged pixel, plus the size just isn't that great...
The Wii sold really well for the first few years. It consistently out sold PS3 and Xbox360. However, this past year, the Wii sales took a steep dive now that it has reached a satuation point and most of the novelty have worn off.
The Wii U looks promising, but in order to compete they really need a robust online network for people to play on.
it is kind of a sad time and it's a harsh reality check. As it often does, the games industry is upending itself once more and massive changes are happening. Just as Sony was Top Dog for a good several years, Nintendo enjoyed (another) spot in the sun with a great success between the Wii and the DS. Also like Sony, they got a bit stubborn (well, N was always stubborn) and stuck to their guns in light of such huge changes in the environment - Wii is no match for HD (and their online is minimal), and of course DS is old as well and can't really keep up with what's happening in this new exploding mobile market (phones, tablets, cheap/free games of heavy duty quality)
3DS would have been nice several years ago but releasing such a gimmicky device now, for such a price, and with such a limited selection of "must-have games" for this stretch of time was really just a series of "we are out of touch" maneuvers. They left the door open and everyone's just walking all over them. Nintendo is not down and out by a longshot, but they'd best reorganize their plans (like they did when developing Wii) with something radical lest they fall upon some hard times for real.
All that being said, Wii U made me worried, for various reasons, at E3 this year. If it was launching this holiday it would be bad enough - pushing such a platform even further out is just atrocious. I really hope they could go back to the drawing board with that thing (wishful thinking, I know) and come up with something else.
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[I]TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nintendo Co Ltd posted its first-ever quarterly operating loss, cut the price of its 3DS handheld game player and slashed its full-year profit forecast far below market expectations, hit by sluggish sales and a strong yen.
My sentimental self hopes Nintendo recovers. Many fond memories of Mario and Goldeneye from my childhood....
First thing that comes to mind: I'd totally buy a Nintendo phone lmao.
The 3DS was set up to tank anyway, the truth is the majority of people don't care that much for 3d. I vaguely remember reading that even Evo 3d sales were much behind target. Despite its other system upgrades and new UI, I think 3D was not the selling-point to go for. I certainly was not interested. And I bough a DSi but a couple months before 3DS was scheduled because I knew I had no interest in 3D, sounds like a headache to pay for.My eyes are already burnt out as it is. I still play Pokemon, Zelda, or Super Mario on occasion :x
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I really hope Nintendo makes a comeback, would be very sad to hear them go bust from profit losses.
Hmm, I think I'm gonna go out and buy me the new DS. I have a custom-made Nintendo DS Lite with Diamond and Pearl engraves, saw DSi, didn't want it, DSXL or something, nope, was happy with my console, which I rarely play.
Nintendo makes good consoles and has a moderate line of games but it may be due to the intended 'audience' that they are starting to stagger behind...
One thing I don't understand is how are Smartphones to blame, I don't play games on mine, and friends that do, those games aren't available on ANY platform outside of the phone. I still see some pals firing up that Modern Warfare for the Wii, and my numbnuts of neighbors next door still use their DS Lites. There's a kid who turned down the Iphone for the DSi, been slamming I think Mario and Spongebob games all day long.
I'd hate for them to fall behind and be '3rd' in the top three. Childhood favorites, millions of hours of entertainment...
They're last in the big three because of their decisions, not because of smart phones. The Wii had two things going for it: price and motion controls.
Now that motion controls have been picked up by Sony and Microsoft and are done even better, that's totally gone. The price IMO is what made it sell so well since parents would naturally buy the cheapest console for their kids. With the Wii-U and a tablet controller, it's not going to be cheap.
NES-N64 era was amazing because of the games, not because of some gimmick. If Nintendo just goes back to the core and make amazing games again, they'll easily come back.
First thing that comes to mind: I'd totally buy a Nintendo phone lmao.
The 3DS was set up to tank anyway, the truth is the majority of people don't care that much for 3d. I vaguely remember reading that even Evo 3d sales were much behind target. Despite its other system upgrades and new UI, I think 3D was not the selling-point to go for. I certainly was not interested. And I bough a DSi but a couple months before 3DS was scheduled because I knew I had no interest in 3D, sounds like a headache to pay for.My eyes are already burnt out as it is. I still play Pokemon, Zelda, or Super Mario on occasion :x
The 3DS makes me feel like Nintendo have lost their way, they seem to be selling products on hardware features now not on what users really want.
It seems as though the game industry has expanded at such a rate that Nintendo are failing to catch up and have gone in the wrong direction, I really hope they don't end up like Sega, Amiga and Atari...
Nintendo should get out of the hardware business and stick with software.
Japanese gaming on the whole is slipping fast. The gaming demographic has shifted and they have not. Japanese developers will always have the hearts of Japan but that won't be enough to sustain them forever.
Nintendo posts lowest profit in 27 years, smartphones significantly to blame.
