Nintendo still very rich, but profits dipped in 2008

Nintendo saw improved sales of its Wii and DS gaming devices during the last three months of 2008, but revised down its sales and profits forecasts due to the stronger Japanese yen.

Nintendo still very rich, but profits dipped in 2008

Mario: Pleased but somber

TOKYO -- During the April to December period, which is the first nine months of Nintendo's financial year, sales were 16 percent ahead of 2007 at 1.5 trillion yen ($16.6 billion). However, net profit lagged that of 2007 by 18 percent, at 212 billion yen.

Sales of the Wii during the quarter were 10.4 million, up from 7 million during the same period a year earlier, while DS sales rose from 11.2 million units to 11.9 million, it said. During the quarter, sales of the DSi -- a revised version of the DS that was launched in Japan in November -- totaled 1.7 million units.

Despite the generally positive sales there are some clouds on the horizon.

Sales of the Wii are slowing in Japan. During the first nine months of the year, a total of 18.9 million consoles were sold versus 29.9 million in the same period of 2007. Sales of the DS have also been slipping in Japan and stood at 3.3 million during the nine-month period against 5.6 million during the equivalent period in 2007. The launch of the DSi has stoked sales somewhat, but they are still likely to be down for the full fiscal year.

For its fiscal year, which runs from April until March, Nintendo revised its sales forecasts for both the DS and Wii. It expects Wii sales to total 26.5 million units, down 1 million from its previous forecast, and DS sales to be 1 million units higher at 31.5 million.

It also revised down its financial outlook. The company cut its sales forecast by 9 percent to 1.8 trillion yen and shaved a third off its net profit forecast, which now stands at 230 billion yen.

See also: The 28 best Wii games | The best new Wii Games

Comments [14]

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tparsons5150

Oh no poor Nintendo is going Bankrupt,.. wtf why is it that lately it seems like Gaming news sites report earnings and sales more then they report/talk about Games??

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DJKennethA

With the economy and all I think it's important. It gives us an idea of who may or may not tank. Just look at stuff like free radical :<

themave

tparsons5150 wrote:

Oh no poor Nintendo is going Bankrupt,.. wtf why is it that lately it seems like Gaming news sites report earnings and sales more then they report/talk about Games??

because there is not enough gaming news to post. so they have to fill the day with any post related to games in any ways, only way to keep a web site new. really now if it was strickly about games, and nothing else. you could update it once or twice a month, and be current with the gaming news. Look at all the games news post, they are basically nothing new at all. Really how many Halo or Resistance2 stories can there be. It is all filler to get you to come back to the web site, so they can get eyeballs, which gets advertising dollars. OK my rant for the day is complete

Toneman

Well, it can't totally dominate forever... we all know Wii isn't exactly at the cutting edge of technology (except the contrtolers), so sooner or later, people will look for a system with a longer life-span and maybe more functionality.

imnotirish1990

Where in the article does it say Nintendo is not doing well? Nintendo made a profit last year - just not as much as it had previously. This is quite an achievement considering that the economy is in such crappy shape. Pretty much every company in the world suffered losses in 2008 and will continue to suffer in 2009, so even Nintendo has to lower its expectations somewhat.

eday_2010

Of course sales are going to slow down. in 2008 there were 29.9 million fewer people in Japan who wanted to buy a Wii because they already had one. And this year there will be even fewer people who want to get one since even more people already did. Maybe now that sales wil lstart slowing, they'll start working on putting out some great games.

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