Nintendo sales, profits surging on Wii, DS Lite

Sales and profits at Japanese games maker Nintendo are surging on strong sales of its new Wii console and DS handheld gaming device.

By Martyn Williams

The company sold 3.2 million Wii consoles in November and December, together with 17.5 million pieces of software, it said Thursday. The console launched first in the U.S. on Nov. 19 and sales totalled 1.25 million units by the end of the year. In Japan, where it debuted on Dec. 2, sales were 1.1 million units and in Australia and Europe, where it was on sale within a week of the Japan launch, sales reached 800,000 units before the year ended.

The successful launch of the console had a direct effect on Nintendo's financial results.

The company reported sales in the first nine months of its financial year, the period from April to December, were ?712.6 billion, up 73 percent on the same period a year earlier. Net profit jumped 43 percent to ?131.9 billion and operating profit, which more closely tracks performance of the core business more than doubled to ?167.6 billion.

The popularity of Nintendo's DS also contributed to the performance. Nintendo sold just under 19 million units in the April to December period and the handheld became the fastest rising gaming platform ever in Japan. "New Super Mario Bros" sold 8.6 million units and other popular titles continued to perform well, including "Touch! Generations," "Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!" and "Nintendogs," the company said.

The company said it expects sales for the year to be ?900 billion, a 22 percent increase on its previous forecast of ?740 billion. Net profit is expected to be ?120 billion, 20 percent higher than previously predicted.

Nintendo kept the Wii console sales target for the full year unchanged at 6 million units but raised its Wii software sales forecast from 17 million games to 21 million games.

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