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Nintendo sold 600,000 Wii Us in Q2

Wed 29 Oct 2014 8:33am GMT / 4:33am EDT / 1:33am PDT
Insights

Console is "gathering momentum" but Nintendo looks ahead to major software launches

Nintendo

nintendo.com

Sales of Nintendo hardware have been "gathering momentum" in the first half of the fiscal year, with the Wii U shifting 600,000 units in the second quarter.

During the six-month period ended September 30, 2014, Nintendo earned ¥171.4 billion ($1.6 billion) in revenue, up 12.8 per cent year-on-year. Net profit was ¥14.2 billion ($131.5 million), a clear improvement over the ¥0.6 billion it earned at the same point in the last fiscal year.

In terms of hardware, Nintendo reported 1.12 million Wii Us sold, up from 510,000 quarter-over-quarter. The only major new release in the second quarter was Hyrule Warriors - launched at the very end of the accounting period - though Nintendo's earnings release put more emphasis on the "steady sales" of Mario Kart 8.

Overall, the company sold around 5 million units of Wii U software in the second quarter, up from 4.4 million units in the first. Nintendo expects this to improve in the second half of the fiscal year, with the launches of Super Smash Bros. Wii U and its Amiibo toy line.

The Nintendo 3DS sold 1.27 million units in the second quarter, a marked improvement on the 820,000 units it sold in the first. 3DS software showed a similar rate of improvement with 14.73 million units sold, bringing the total for the first-half of the fiscal year to 23.3 million.

Super Smash Bros. 3DS and Tomodachi Life were Nintendo's key performers for the platform, selling 3.2 million and 1.27 million units in this fiscal year respectively. Again, Nintendo expects improved performance when Pokemon Omega Sapphire and Ruby launch next month.

Nintendo expects to earn ¥590 billion ($5.5 billion) in revenue and ¥169 billion ($1.6 billion) in profit by the end of the fiscal year.

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5 Comments

Michael Shamgar Post-CEO, Nocturnal Entertainment Australia

786 294 0.4

Much better quarter and half compared to last year. Operating income is finally back to "0" (close) - maybe those loss making quarters are over.

Much will come down to the line ups for next year - and how aggressive MS and Sony are.

Posted:A year ago

Tom Keresztes Programmer

742 400 0.5

Much will come down to the line ups for next year - and how aggressive MS and Sony are.

Very.

Posted:A year ago

Keldon Alleyne Handheld Developer, Avasopht Ltd

618 706 1.1

How does this compare to their projections?

Posted:A year ago

Daniel Hughes PhD Researcher, Bangor University

34 82 2.4

@ Keldon

Nintendo has set a Wii U target of 3.6 million for the full year, meaning they need to shift another 2.48 million in the remaining six months to hit their target. That should be doable. Wii U shipments are so far up year-over-year by more than 100%. That trend obviously won't continue, but figures for the next six months should trend 30 to 50% above last year's shipments, depending on the impact of Smash and how Wii U's baseline sales drop in January. Given Nintendo shipped 1.95 million Wii Us in quarter 3 of last year, it's possible that they could even exceed their Wii U shipment target with a strong enough Christmas quarter.

3DS doesn't look as rosy year-over-year, currently down a little under 50%, and if I'm right, they need to ship a little under another 10 million to hit their target. I see them missing their full year target on that basis. The good news for Nintendo is there has been significant quarter over quarter growth, that New 3DS has just launched strongly in Japan, any hardware bump from Smash Brothers won't be accounted for in these figures, and a Pokemon title is on the way globally in time for Christmas. 3DS should tick along nicely but it'll be a push to hit full year expectations.

It's entirely possible Nintendo are planning a March launch for New 3DS in the West, and that could be why their current 3DS target look like a stretch. Wii U is looking fairly good in terms of meeting or even exceeding targets, but the full year forecast was quite modest. I'd say that's a reflection of Nintendo accepting the reality of the market, though; Wii U just hasn't struck a chord with the mainstream.

Posted:A year ago