Nintendo reaps $2.44 billion in annual profits despite 22% slip in sales; Wii Sports Resort tops 16M, New Super Mario Bros. Wii hurdles 14M, Wii Fit Plus sells 12.65M; Wii game sales total 544.83M, DS software hits 718M.
This week began with advance word that Nintendo would suffer its first slip in profits in six years. As predicted, the company behind the uber-popular Wii and DS posted ¥229 billion ($2.44 billion) in annual net income for the 12 months ending March 31, 2010, 18.1 percent lower than the ¥279 billion ($2.98 billion) it reported the year prior. Annual revenue slipped 22 percent to ¥1.43 trillion ($15.2 billion).
The dip in the still-massive yearly profit and revenue was not unanticipated. In January, Nintendo said sales for the first nine months of its full fiscal year fell 23.1 percent to ¥1.18 trillion ($12.5 billion), while profits sank 9.4 percent to ¥192.6 billion ($2.04 billion).
For the full year, Nintendo said its earnings were "negatively impacted by a price reduction on Wii hardware," "fewer strong Wii software titles," and unfavorable currency exchange rates.
That said, the Kyoto, Japan-based company still reported robust hardware sales. The DS further cemented its place as the top-selling handheld of all time by selling 27.11 million units worldwide during the year, totaling 128.9 million units life-to-date. Of that, some 17.82 million were DSi's and 2.08 million were DSi XLs.
DS software highlights for the year included Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (8.4 million units), Tomodachi Collection (3.2 million units), and Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (2.6 million units). To date, 114 DS titles have sold more than 1 million units since the platform launched in 2004. Life-to-date DS software sales now top 718.5 million units, with another 150 million in sales forecast for the 12 months ending March 31, 2011.
The Wii console sold 20.53 million units during the 12 months ended March 31, attaining sales of 70.93 million units since its 2006 debut. That life-to-date figure included US sales of 5.26 million units during the past four months, which Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime recently bragged about on CNBC.
By comparison, Microsoft had sold just over 40 million Xbox 360s as of the end of March, despite having a full-year head start on the Wii. Sony reported that the PlayStation 3 had sold 33.5 million units as of December 31, 2009, although new figures will be available next Thursday when Sony reports its annual earnings.
Wii software also saw solid sales, with Wii Sports Resort racking up 16.14 million units during Nintendo's fiscal year. Wii Fit Plus has now sold more than 12.65 million units, with New Super Mario Bros. Wii hitting 14.7 million in worldwide sales. As of March 31, some 79 Wii games had sold more than 1 million units, with overall Wii software sales totaling 544.83 million units. Nintendo predicts it will sell another 165 million Wii games during the current fiscal year.
@PandaBear86 The Wii-mote can it dose that on a fishing game that is on Wii play but the game isnt much fun so Im not surprised youve never heard of it. As for the PS3 Move Ive seen the Kevin Butler commercial and the 2009 E3 show but I also saw the videos of reviewers playing on the demos at the GDC10 show thats where my doubt comes from.
please make some 3d+head tracking gear! its such a pisser that on red steel 2 which is freaking amazing by the way, it sucks that we have to use the same thing that acts as the sword and gun to look around as well like a flash light. it restricts our mobility when were fighting and restricts our weapon usage when we are on the move. So please release that soon as possible because if zelda, metroid, and castlevania etc arent gonna have head tracking they're gonna have the same problem as red steel 2. Which is great but I wish looking and swinging were 2 seperate entities. oh yea and the 3d glasses. I know you guys are rich go watch avatar, buy the nvidia or edimensional stereo 3d glasses and play with johnny lees head tracking on some emulator or something and see all those fun games in 3d. It is so much better, why the wait? Tired of rigging the pc to do what you guys can afford to release all the software is out to the public... So please release that stuff soon because it would make the games feel damn near real.
@hatieshorrer PS Move is tecnically superior than the Wiimote since it tracks its position using more advanced technology. The Wiimote cannot even tell how far you are from the TV (unless you use MotionPlus), while the PS Move can do all that easily
Well flameducky, anti-Ninty fanboys who bash Nintendo like the new devil can be just as annoying... in my opinion...
Even if (In my opinion) the Wii is the weakest console I gotta hand it to Nintendo: They've really outdone themselves in the sales department. I'm a bit disappointed that they responded to a sales drop with a new colored Wii. And even THAT is enough alone to get some suckers who are over-loyal to Nintendo. Why else did the iPad sell so well? Also, I'm getting really tired of all the Nintendo fanboys coming on these articles and praising Nintendo like the new Jesus. I mean come on guys, have some self-respect! Anyway, I highly doubt Sony or Microsoft can best the Wii at this point. However, Sony has tens of millions of PS2 owners who still haven't bought PS3s. Win them over, you pass the 360 instantly. Until then, no matter how pathetic I think the Wii is, I still think they're pretty much guaranteed to win the console war.
@PandaBear86 Wow... you really think of Sony as innovative? So they are the ones that came up with motion gaming in the first place? Just because they have enhanced graphics and online play, the Wii became bad just because Sony's using what Nintendo already had? There's just so much wrong with saying that. Would you like some epic with that fail?
@PandaBear86 Im so tired of this argument of the Move IS Superior to Wii-mote. How can you know that it hasnt been released yet chances are youve never even handled one you might buy it at launch and it might be less responsive then the Wii-mote.
@frazzle00 yeah I never said my experience was anything but my experience. There's been a few surveys out there, but MSFT isn't going to ever reveal the real rate.
@wahyudil Nitnendo didn't say which titles the 79 were, they've only released figures for 1st party titles.
@ thorsen-ink: Oh, trust me, I have had my fair share of bricked 360's due to the RROD epidemic. I think it's ridiculous. Just recently, my console got the red rings after my warranty had run out. I have yet to replace it, as I am not sure if I want to give Microsoft anymore of my money (and I refuse to buy another Sony product) if there's still a chance that it is going to brick again in the future. All I was trying to imply is that Microsoft does not judge how many consoles they sold based on who sent them in to get repaired but instead how many are bought in retail stores like Best Buy, Target, etc. etc., therefore lessening the impact that the RROD has on units sold (or re-sold) to gamers due to the whole warranty thing. Now, if I decide to buy another 360 than that's two consoles sold that Microsoft has got out of me, even though I have technically had around 5 different 360's.
Almost 200 million of Videogaming devices have been sold by Nintendo (DS & Wii) That I thought would fail when they were first released. Nintendo is still in Business. Wacky Ideas seem to have paid off for the "Big N"
The only reason why I bought a Wii was because of motion controllers. Now that Sony has developed the superior PS Move controllers for PS3, I am happy that the Wii is obsolete in motion control, graphics, AND online gameplay. Thank you for your innovation, Sony, I love you guys :)
79 titles reach 1 millions??? what are they??? GS never showed us any except the 1st party title only ....
I think I read few weeks back DS game sales come to about 120 million a year, which averages out to 1 game per DS per year, almost. That seems just about right ats they've had nearly 720 million software sales in 6 years. What's worse is I bought quite a few DS games out there which means many buy it and don't really touch it or buy anything for it.
@thorsen-ink Anecdotal evidence is just that, anecdotal. Sure you may be on your 6th 360, but that doesn't mean that this is a representative situation for 360 owners. Don't get me wrong; I know MS have major hardware issues with the 360 (I've had my 360 fixed 3 times now, never had to pay a dime), but how frequent this problem actually is (or whether it has changed with the various chipsets MS have introduced) is far from clear. I have seen supposedly "scientific" surveys quote failure rates from anywhere between 15% to 62%. Personally, this level of diversity in the results makes me skeptical about the veracity of these surveys.
Oh well, whatever the case may be I still do most of my gaming on my 360. My PS3 has been getting a lot of action lately thanks to the sublime Yakuza 3. I haven't played my Wii since the middle of 2008 when I clocked Mario Galaxy. It may as well not be working :(.
Whatever you might say about Nintendo & the Wii, both it's hardware and first-party software sell really well. Just don't understand why given the quality of recent Sony releases (Uncharted 2, GOW 3) they're not being snapped up at a similar rate. Sure there are more better games released on PS3 and harware sales are behind Wii but you'd have expected say Uncarted 2 to sell more than the current 4m for a user base that's greater than 30m.
Nintendo is now dealing with a saturated market - their numbers will continue to decline without some adjustments. Namely, they need to bite the bullet and go HD with a wii successor, and wooing some better 3rd-party support certainly wouldn't hurt them either. The upcoming 3DS will probably give them a boost too.
@Tripleseed I'm on my 6th 360. Then again, I only bought it again once off ebay for ridiculously cheap (console only, no cords or HDD). MSFT has replaced my 360 FIVE TIMES.
In my thoughts, "Hardcore" gamer is a person who plays video games ALL the time, putting in many hours into games. "Casual" gamers are people who play video games only for a little while, but not much. It doesn't matter what game you are playing. I don't consider someone who played 100 hours of Wii Sports Resort a "casual" gamer.
Not surprising considering who they were targeting after the massive losses they had in the last generation, hopefully in the next generation, Nintendo will be more appealing for both casual gamers and hardcore gamers.
smbius: I seriously doubt that many people "re-bought" the 360 after getting the RROD. And if they did, I pity those people for not knowing about the whole warranty thing where they repair your box or send you a refurbished one for free. If your warranty runs out, it will cost you $100 to send it in to be repaired. This, of course, is still cheaper than buying a new unit. It's OK to make speculations, but at least try to have them rooted a bit in reality, mmmkay?
i guess graphics aren't everything. The wii has the weakest graphics compared to 360 and ps3. I guess the wii wins this gen.
I love my Wii and my DS. They're both great systems, and have a decent selection of really great games. Don't get me wrong, there's a ton of crappy games too, but it's not to hard for gamers to tell which ones are which.
It would be awesome if Nintendo and Microsoft could team up and create games that use both the Wiimote and Project Natal technology. The possibilities would be endless.
Most of the people bashing the Wii just want the system to have bloody shooters and GTA-like games on it. :P
Face it; there are simply more people in the world who prefer the lighthearted, pure, everybody-style of fun Ninty has to offer than the violent war-based shooters on other systems. I'm not bashing PS3/360 or anything (I really have no right to, as I own neither), but Nintendo has won this round, I think. I'm happy. I still enjoy Nintendo's core franchises (Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Smash Bros, etc.), and I'm also having fun playing games with other people with the "casual" titles. Just saying.
Despite what the haters say, I think Wii was a successful console. It may have some flaws, but overall it's was aimed for "fun" and it succeeded in that. I am glad I have one along with a 360. :) That's also a lot of DSs! o.o Go Nintendo!
@ csartinian Completely agreed. I can't tell you how long it's been since I've bought a game for my Wii. I think the last game I bought was Resident Evil 4 and that was over a year ago. I have played my Wii maybe once in the past 6 months, and that was when the PSN went down for one day on March 1st. My PS3 gets all the love, my Wii is just it's neglected step brother.
@hatieshorror Agreed. I used to say "Wii is heir to PS2s throne". But, it looks like the DS deserves such honors. Besides, DS is a better device than Wii, anyway. I think now that handhelds have similar features as consoles, it's safe to compare them. And the DS has, game for game, one of the BEST libraries ever. It may even eclipse the PS2 someday.
I remember way way back before the Wii was launched and someone said "Hey you think they'll sell 100 million?" and everyone just laughed at the guy. I even thought it was a little silly.
even if the wii and ds sell more than the ps2 did. it dont matter to me because the ps2 was $300 for years, and it gradually dropped, where as the wii was $250, and made for kids generally..the ps2 had a less type of fan base than the wii..in my book the ps2 will always be the best console ever
@SalarianChemist - You make some good points. But here are a couple things I'd like to point out: Nintendo went after the non-gamer and sprinkled a handful of games to satisfy the hardcore market. Yes, they are in direct competition but the sales of the 360/PS3 will not impact much of Wii's base ...that is until Natal and PS3 Move debuts. 360 has an edge in online gaming along with a strong library but they also had a 1-year head start and "re-buys" thanks to RROD. The PS3 is 3rd not because of software lineup because of horrible decision making, small lineup and its price. But Sony has responded with the PS3-slim, a price drop, a rebranding, and good exclusives. This is helping them get 3rd party support. 3rd place yes but not selling poor. Multiplatform games hardly tell the story of which console is "better". That is mostly dependent on the developer not the hardware. The developer's goal is to make the experience consistent on both consoles without hurting the sales of the other. Case in point, FF13 is slightly better on PS3 graphically, while 360 is better with Bayonetta. I own both consoles and playing between 360/PS3 versions of the same game, the differences are not significant. I own MW2 and SSF4 for both consoles just to play with friends who are on different platforms. Not much difference. As for Nintendo, time will tell if they will be a victim of their own success as they try to convert this new non-gaming audience into actual gamers.
@csartinian i understand your point of view,and in some way you have right....but (there is a but) the game rank is relative (a lot),for example,i love pes 2010,but a lot of people out there hate pes and just love fifa,i love street fighter and some jut love taken,uncharted maybe is the best game ever made ,but how many out there can say :its my favorite game....not all,out there are a lot of people that just love a game even if its on ps2 xbox n64 snes gba ds psp sega atari iphone ect ect ect im not saying that the wii has A+ games but..... to say that :my wii its colecting dust????i just hate this kind of things ,wii may not have some A+ games,but im shore that the wii have some great games ,an all time favorite for some people(even for me) out there
I'm sure Nintendo is glad to be back on top, kind of a David & Goliath story. The little (graphics), standard def, mucho-shovelware but great core games guy triumphs over HD, razzle-dazzle, some of the best games you've ever seen guy.
Kenji_Masamune - haha I kind of see your point. I loved the SNES but yeah remember Mortal Kombat? Of course you do but it was out for both Genesis and SNES and it was like "do you want to play the one on the family friendly console or the one with the testicles?". Bring on the gore!
the wii much like every other nintendo system since the SNES only have a small handful of games that are worth buying, the rest is geared toward pre-teen/family/party games.
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