Nintendo's most recent earnings report was not filled with positive numbers. This morning the company reported a ¥70.27 billion ($923 million) loss for the six month period ending on September 30, 2011. That is a much larger loss than the ¥2.01 billion Nintendo posted for the same six month period last year.
Nintendo is attributing some of the loss posted during this six month period to a strengthened yen, as well as sluggish 3DS sales. Other problems include declining Wii sales numbers. This combination has resulted in revenue for Nintendo declining 40.6 percent on the year, to ¥215.74 billion ($2.84 billion). Overall Nintendo is reporting an operating loss of ¥57.34 billion.
The result of all of these numbers is Nintendo slashing their financial projections for a second time this year. The company is now predicting a loss of ¥20 billion for the full year which officially ends in March 2012. Bloomberg dug into these numbers and if all of this holds true through March, it will mean Nintendo's first annual loss in 30 years.
One has to wonder what impact this financial situation has on the Wii U which is set to debut sometime in 2012. If that system fails to stir up huge sales numbers, like the company saw with the 3DS, would it spell the end for Nintendo's hardware manufacturing days? Sega saw something similar happen after the Dreamcast launched and produced less than stellar sales numbers. After that console Sega chose to stop making hardware and simply publish games for other systems.
Nintendo's Wii was a huge success but it seems that interest in that technology has officially gone stale, or everyone already has one in their homes so sales are naturally declining. The 3DS has already proved to be a disapopintment for Nintendo in the sales department forcing the company to slash the price on the no-glasses, 3D capable handheld from $250 to $170 within 6 months of release. If the Wii U can't pick up where the Wii left off, Nintendo is going to be faced with some very difficult decisions in the coming few years.
Do you think Nintendo can rebound from this loss with the Wii U? Should Nintendo rethink their stance on porting games to iOS? Let us know what you think in the comments.
