Nintendo Loses $323m, Cuts 3DS Price Globally, Lowers Forecasts - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 28 July 2011 / 10,097 Views
Nintendo's financial results for the June 2011 quarter have arrived. For the quarter, Nintendo revenue reached 93.93b Yen / ($1.12b) with losses at 25.516b Yen ($323m loss). These figures were down from the 188.65b Yen ($2.39b) in revenue and 25.216b loss ($319m loss) level achieved in the June 2010 quarter. Nintendo had previously expected revenue for the fiscal year ending March 2012 to reach 1.10t Yen ($13.9b) with profit reaching 110b Yen ($1.39b). The company lowered that forecast to 900b Yen ($11.4b) in revenue with the profit forecast down dramatically to 20b Yen ($253m) - a 90b Yen drop.
Part of the reason for the change in forecast is that Nintendo has maintained its 3DS forecast of 16m even though the device has clearly underperformed Nintendo's goals to date - and thus Nintendo decided to lower the price of 3DS to 15,000 Yen in Japan effective August 11, 2011, from the current 25,000 Yen price. There is no word yet on how this will impact the original DS line, which sells for around 15,000 Yen, but presumably that hardware will be further discounted as well. Nintendo is also cutting the 3DS price in the West by September 2011, as even a price cut of this nature can't push more than 1m - 1.5m units given the size of the Japanese market and the current performance of 3DS.
Nintendo made a couple of other forecast modifications as well. The bad news is Wii hardware projections were lowered to 12m from 13m while DS hardware projections were lowered to 9m from 11m. 3DS software however was raised to 70m from 62m. Wii software is now forecast to reach 110m games without bundles, down from 120m (125m ish overall, down from 135m), with DS software now forecast to reach 65m instead of 67m.
For the quarter, Nintendo shipped 1.56m Wiis, 1.44m DS systems, and 0.71m 3DS systems. Wii shipments were 110,000 to Japan, 530,000 to the Americas, and 920,000 to 'Other' for the quarter. 3DS shipments were 400,000 to Others, 210,000 to Japan, and 110,000 (that's the worst figure in the entire set of data) to the Americas. Finally, DS shipments were 50,000 to Japan, 150,000 to the Americas, and 300,000 to Others for the quarter.
Based on the figures above Nintendo expects Wii shipments to reach 10.5m over the next 9 months, with DS shipments reaching 7.6m, and 3DS shipments reaching 15.3m. Obviously the 3DS forecast is going to be the tallest order, but it might be doable with a global price cut soon.
Lifetime to date hardware shipments for Nintendo's systems now stand at the following levels:
Americas Others Japan Global Total
DS 55.69m 59.30m 32.87m 147.86m
Wii 41.71m 34.16m 11.71m 87.57m
3DS 1.43m 1.63m 1.27m 4.32m
The Wii, DS, and 3DS bases stack up to Nintendo's previous systems, on a regional basis, like so:
| June 11' LTD | Americas | Japan | Others | Total |
| DS | 55.69 | 32.87 | 59.30 | 147.86 |
| GB | 44.06 | 32.47 | 42.16 | 118.69 |
| Wii | 41.71 | 11.71 | 34.16 | 87.58 |
| GBA | 41.64 | 16.96 | 22.87 | 81.47 |
| NES | 34.00 | 19.35 | 8.56 | 61.91 |
| SNES | 23.35 | 17.17 | 8.58 | 49.10 |
| N64 | 20.63 | 5.54 | 6.75 | 32.92 |
| GC | 12.94 | 4.04 | 4.77 | 21.75 |
| 3DS | 1.43 | 1.27 | 1.63 | 4.33 |
Software shipments for Wii reached 13.44m in the June quarter, with DS software shipments coming to 12.13m and 3DS software shipments coming to 4.97m. Wii software was split 940,000 (Japan), 6.44m Americas, and 6.07m Others. 3DS software split 1.03m Japan, 1.84m Americas, and 1.67m for Others. DS software was split at 5.50m Americas, 4.89m Others, and 1.74m in Japan.
Lifetime to date software shipments for Wii, DS, and 3DS are now at the following levels:
Americas Others Japan Global Total
DS 346.32m 304.42m 200.88m 851.62m
Wii 402.94m 265.14m 61.46m 729.53m
3DS 5.78m 4.97m 3.21m 13.96m
Software shipments for the Wii, DS, and 3DS bases stack up to Nintendo's previous systems, on a regional basis, like so:
Nintendo should release some more information over the next few days, as Iwata typically presents information on Nintendo's performance after the initial wave of results release. Presumably we'll get release dates for Zelda, Mario Party, Kirby, and some other titles, as Nintendo's next set of results won't arrive until late October, and the company typically does not make major announcements for Gamescom or TGS. A global price cut for 3DS also looks like it could be coming soon, possibly this week.
Overall, it looks like Nintendo shipped far to many Wiis / 3DS systems to the Americas at some point, and that stock is still getting cleared out as figures for 'Others' this quarter were generally far better than Americas figures across the board. Obviously 3DS is more of an issue though than Wii on the overshipping front, as shipping 1.5m systems with 80m+ units in homes is very different from shipping 700,000 units with a base under 5m. Nintendo's results should improve somewhat next quarter, but 3DS hardware sales will have not really improved half way through the quarter, so it looks like Nintendo's profitability for this fiscal year will largely depend on how big Wii and 3DS blow up over Christmas. This is especially true since the DS forecast of 9m / 65m games implies only a 4-5m quarter for hardware, and a 30m quarter for software. With the price cuts to 3DS and Wii, their figures will probably be closer to 9m / 6.5m if Nintendo meets its new targets, with software at 40m / 60m - which means the massive 150m DS base is already far less relevant to Nintendo than the tiny 3DS base and the declining Wii base.
Contact VGChartz at jmazel@vgchartz.com
More Articles
It eats money?
wait so psp shipped more than the DS. man VGC keeps having PSP undertracked
without a doubt
Does this makes some kind of Guinness world record for the earliest and biggest price cut ever?
No that would be the XBOX 1 in the UK which dropped £100 after only being on sale 6 weeks.
Horrific across the board. awful.
Say as they might, but this is a direct response to vita's price-point.
Holy crap.
Now I feel like a f**king idiot for buying it
On the contrary, now you have 20 free VC games waiting for you, from the NES and the GBA. :)
Stocks will drop like a rock, Nintendo will start going down the road of big losses soon.
I cannot wait to read the shareholders reactions and Iwata's answers. Looks like his promises and forecasts were all big improvisations.
That 3DS is going to sell like crazy. Almost $100 cheaper then the PSVita.
if they did not lower the price of the 3ds the vita would hurt the sales real bad when it lauches!
So...how close is VGC do we reckon?
Also- Ouch. Nintendo should have kept going down the road they were on. I'm sure they'll get there in the end, but for now it's looking pretty grim :/
i've been against the launch of Wiiu and 3DS as i felt and still fill its to early.
I noticed a new advert last night to demonstrate that the 3DS was not a DS. It spent ages showing the better graphics and hardcore games.
Good. I believe that's been a huge problem with public perception of the device. They should've given it a more distingushing name. Most people probably think it's just a 3D version of the DS.
I think the Wii U is going to have the same problem. A couple of my hardcore gamer buds were watching the E3 presser and thought it was just a new controller for the Wii ...
Ugh Kowenicki stop posting facts X_X.
The pink dream is over for Nintendo, now it is time to be more realistic, they are now at the gates of hell!! =P
Not looking too good but it looks like they are realizing some of their mistakes. I believe Nintendo can still have a decent holiday season with the 3DS and Wii. The price cut on the 3DS will make it stand out better against the Vita.
People couldn't possibly expect Nintendo to be doing as well now as they were between 2006-2008. They are going through a transitional phase with their hardware and that's always tough. The older hardware is decreasing in sales and they tried to make up for it by over pricing the 3DS, which backfired. You also have Nintendo's resources switching from Wii development to Wii U development, meaning that over the next 12 to 18 months, there will be less software for Nintendo to get money from. If 3DS sales pick up like the original DS did in 2005-2006 and if Wii U is a success at launch and after launch, I'd expect Nintendo to return to glory by mid 2013. If not, then the golden days are over for them for at least another generation.
WTF is going on? Since when does Nintendo lose so much money? It friggin prints money!
RE LOL!!!
No surprise here...
Japanese companies like Nintendo, Sony losing tons of money in $-regions. Cutting the price of the PS3 in America would approach finacial suicide. Cutting the 3DS price to $150 does not because that thing still sells at a profit.
thing is compared to the other companies and the last 5 odd years of pure profit it doesnt matter if they dont sell another system for the next year they have so much to fall back on
The next beast is ready... 3DS is ready...
Haha! Glad I didn't buy it yet! Once KH3D comes out, i'm sure it will be practically free, I'll buy it then
The PSVITA will destroy this poor handheld :D
Good, I
wow. So they are basically cutting it by $100? (given typical japan to us price is 100Y = $1)
Maybe a 3DS in states for $150? That would sell like hotcakes and really screw part of Sony's plans with their system. I wonder if this is what Nintendo planned? sell the 3DS really high at first until Sony makes move on their price. Then drop the price as needed to have the massive difference as seen in original DS/PSP.
if you think this was planned...I'm sorry but you have lost it. Check the numbers/performance/expectations change and come back..this was anything BUT part of the plan
padib: logic: learn, evaluate, understand, shut up. good god man If you for a second think ninty had planned for 3ds to do this badly, and for their stocks to plummet, for their forecast to be decreased by 80% or so JUST to see and mess with sony and psv launch, you have lost all common sense. use y
padib at least understand what my replies are referring to or just shut up and stop wasting my time with your paranoid nonsense. none of the actions by ninty are part of the 'plan'. if not they would have at least waited to see 'when' psv is releasing. this is an act of desperation from ninty due to their horrible performance so far with the device. it's simple logic really. no need to sugar coat with a fantasy world of everything as planned by ninty, they effed up and paying the price. doesn't mean ninty is doomed but this not part of any sane business plan
padib at least understand what my replies are referring to or just shut up and stop wasting my time with your paranoid nonsense. none of the actions by ninty are part of the 'plan'. if not they would have at least waited to see 'when' psv is releasing. this is an act of desperation from ninty due to their horrible performance so far with the device. it's simple logic really. no need to sugar coat with a fantasy world of everything as planned by ninty, they effed up and paying the price. doesn't mean ninty is doomed but this not part of any sane business plan
@Mugen, I didn't say they planned on selling so poorly... I said they "sell the 3DS really high at first until Sony makes move on their price. Then drop the price as needed to have the massive difference as seen in original DS/PSP"... meaning I was only referring to the price. Additionally, this was just a random thought. Even if their goal was to force Sony's hand in price, I don' think any company would intentionally sale something at a price they didn't think it was possible to sale really well at. I think they thought it would sell well and then drop it by a small amount on PSV's launch. However, low sales caused them to do it early for potentially an even higher amount. In the end though, all they did was force 4m people to buy $80 worth of digital content.
Well it seems I'm satisfied with the quarterly shipped numbers but still they should revolutionize theii stragedy with 3DS, still a hefty price cut.
Good, I
how on earth do nintendo make a loss. I swear they sell everything at 40% profit. Marketing i could understand but aint seen that many adverts for the 3DS. They must of seriously overshipped wii/3DS units
@Heavenly_King (28 minutes ago)
The PSVITA will destroy this poor handheld :D
I don't know about that. the PSVita is overpriced as well. I'm waiting for a price cut on that next. The 3DS was definitely overpriced obviously, but at least they are giving early adopters 20 Free games to compensate. Sony would never do something like that with the PSP. They did give some free games away due to PSN being down, but that was their fault for having Poor network security. I think that was the first time I saw Sony do something for their customers.
ps vita is NOT overpriced = fact
Was the PSP over priced?
For everything that comes with the PS Vita, I don't think it's overpriced
padib: the only way to properly judge is to see if what it packs is overpriced, they are not. (so yeah now you know :) continue your meltdown
hmm no. the only way to get a subjective answer is to check what the device has on a hw perspective and then see if it validates the price vs the cost to make it. so yea it's not over priced = fact. and I don't care if you dislike it
The world, O ever so subtly, begins now to understand, quite dramatically indeed, the difference between videogaming and casual party gaming. The fooled masses desire in earnest to join with the hordes of gamers that enjoy their video game content in HD, media center amenities incl. DVD and Blu-ray and real live online gaming experiece. The walls around the once mighty fortress of 8-bit world dominance begin to crumble, in justly deserved fasion for having abandoned the core gamer, so many, many years ago. Only the WiiU can perhaps save it now, I wonder?
Crash and burn baby, crash and burn !
I wouldn't be surprised if they actually end up missing the new yearly forecast due to poor holydays performances...
The casual have long ago moved to smart-phones and facebook and the hardcore never were really that interested so all that's left for Nintendo to milk are the core Nintendo fans and that's not going to keep selling 10 millions+ console/year for very long...
How can you tell if you can't see it? :)
you know the answer to that
The Source is seeing into the future by mistake :P
I'm not sure that 3d games are the problem as other machines, namely the PS2, were 3d based and that sold a hatful. So, perhaps it is something else. We shall see around the final quarter where Nintendo have clearly targeted the business.
