Nintendo Slashes Its Fiscal-Year Game Hardware Forecast
Nintendo slashed its 3DS, DS and Wii hardware shipment forecast, as well as its 3DS and DS software shipment estimates and financial results forecast, for the fiscal year ending March 31. The company now expects to ship 14 million 3DS systems this fiscal year instead of the 16 million previously estimated (CED Oct 28 p4), 5.5 million DS systems (down from 6 million) and 10 million Wiis (down from 12 million), it said Wednesday.
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Sales of the handheld 3D game system “increased significantly” in Q3 ended Dec. 31 and it “regained sales momentum” due to the release of new software titles including Nintendo’s Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7, the company said. But it said 3DS sales “did not reach the levels that the company had previously anticipated” for the period. The improved sales also followed an $80 price cut to $169.99 in the summer (CED July 29 p6). Despite the weaker-than-expected 3DS sales and reduced forecast, Nintendo said “prospects for the platform remain strong."
Nintendo said it now expects to ship 38 million units of 3DS software this fiscal year, down from its prior 50 million forecast. The company had already slashed its 3DS software forecast for this year from the 70 million projected July 28. The company also cut its DS software shipment forecast to 59 million from its previously revised estimate of 62 million. It had predicted shipments of 65 million earlier. Nintendo maintained its forecast for 100 million Wii software shipments. Wii shipments in the revised forecast included about 10 million units of software bundled with hardware in the nine months ended Dec. 31, while the Wii software shipment forecast in the prior forecast included about 4 million units in the six months ended Sept. 30.
The company now expects to report a loss of 65 billion yen for this fiscal year instead of the 20 billion yen loss previously projected. It will be Nintendo’s first fiscal year loss ever. It also now expects to report revenue for the year will tumble 34.9 percent from last year, to 660 billion yen, down from its prior estimate of 790 billion yen.
Nintendo said it shipped 25 million hardware units and more than 168 million software units across its three game platforms in the nine months ended Dec. 31. The results helped the DS surpass 150 million units sold, coming in at 151.06 million, and also brought the totals for the Wii to nearly 94.97 million units shipped, while more than 15 million units of 3DS hardware shipped globally, it said. Revenue for the nine months tumbled 31.2 percent year-over-year, to 556.17 billion yen, and it swung to a 48.35 billion yen loss from a 49.56 billion yen profit.
Of the 15.03 million 3DS systems shipped through Dec. 31, Nintendo said 4.66 million were in Japan, 5.47 million in the Americas and 4.91 million in other markets. The bulk of Americas sales are in the U.S. Much of the sales in other regions are in Europe. Nintendo said 11.43 million 3DS systems were shipped in the first nine months of this year, including 3.6 million in Japan, 4.15 million in the Americas and 3.68 million elsewhere.
Of the 151.06 million DS systems that Nintendo shipped through Dec. 31, it said 32.96 million were in Japan, 57.48 million in the Americas and 60.61 million in other markets. Of the 4.64 million DS systems shipped in the first nine months of this year, it said 210,000 were in Japan, 2.35 million in the Americas and 2.08 million in other markets.
Of the 94.97 million Wiis that Nintendo shipped through Dec. 31, it said 12.43 million were in Japan, 45.25 million in the Americas and 37.28 million elsewhere. Of the 8.96 million shipped in the first nine months of this year, 840,000 were in Japan, 4.08 million in the Americas and 4.04 million in other markets.