Living up to its downbeat forecast, Nintendo reported that it lost money for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, largely because of a strong yen, weak sales of the Wii and the company’s games, and a delay in the launch of the 3DS handheld gaming system.
Nintendo reported sales of 363 billion yen, down 33.7 percent from 548 billion yen a year ago. Operating income was down 48 percent to 54 million yen from a profit of 104 million yen a year ago. The net loss was 2 million yen, down from a profit of 69 million yen a year ago. Overall, Nintendo’s shares are down 7 percent since the company revised its financial outlook downward on Sept. 29.
Nintendo plans to introduce its next big product, the 3DS handheld, in the spring. The handheld can display stereoscopic 3D imagery even though the user is not required to wear 3D glasses. Not only does Nintendo face strong competition from Microsoft and Sony, it is also competing head-on with Apple for mobile gamers. Nintendo profits have slumped this year as the Wii, which was the darling of video games for several years, ran out of steam.
To date, Nintendo has sold 75.9 million Wii consoles and 610.0 million units of Wii software. It has also sold 135.6 million DS handhelds and 773.3 million units of DS software. Clearly, Nintendo can’t introduce its new products soon enough.