Nintendo Nine-Month Profits Down 74% On 'Slower Sales'

Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo on Thursday reported a slide in profits and revenues as Wii and DS sales were unable to match last year's record performance. Sales of Nintendo DS during the period were 15.7 million units, down from 23.3 million for the same period a year ago. Unit sales for Wii hardware were 13.7 million units compared to 17 million a year prior. Life-to-date worldwide sales of Nintendo DS were 144.6 million at the end of December 2010, and Wii sales were 84.6 million, Nintendo said. "Slower sales and appreciation of the yen" led the company to report profits of ¥49.6 billion yen ($598.4 million) for the nine months, a 74 percent year-on-year decrease. Revenues were ¥808 billion ($9.7 billion), a 32 percent drop. Worldwide sales of DS and Wii software were 99 million and 150.5 million units, respectively. The company cited strong sales of Pokemon Black/White Version, as well as Super Mario Galaxy 2, Wii Party, New Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong Country Returns. The financial results were in line with Nintendo's expectations, as the company reiterated its forecasts that were announced in October for the year ending March 31, 2011. The publisher expects net sales of ¥1.1 trillion yen ($13.3 billion), down 23 percent year-on-year, and profits of ¥90 billion yen ($1.1 billion), a 61 percent drop. The company plans to launch its anticipated Nintendo 3DS glasses-free stereoscopic 3D handheld before the end of its fiscal year, along with a wide range of first- and third-party software. While Nintendo maintained its sales and profits guidance, it decreased its hardware unit sales expectations for the DS by 1 million units to 18.5 million, but the combined annual DS and 3DS forecast raised handheld sales expectations to 22.5 million. Unit forecasts for the Wii dropped 1.5 million units to 16 million. Nintendo increased DS software sales forecasts by 10 million units to 120 million for the year, and the combined annual DS and 3DS software forecast is 135 million units. The company also raised the Wii software forecast by 32 million units to 170 million.