Nintendo Reduces Expected Profits For Current Fiscal Year By 82%

Nintendo has modified its financial forecast for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, reducing its expected profits for the fiscal year by a hefty 81.8 percent. The company reports that it is now expecting to see profits of ¥20 billion ($254.16 million) in the current fiscal year, compared to its original forecast of ¥110 billion ($1.40 billion). Nintendo said that the forecast had been modified to reflect the stronger-than-expected yen appreciation and sales performance, while also mentioning the upcoming price reduction on its Nintendo 3DS console. Overall, the company estimated that it will ship around 16 million Nintendo 3DS units during this fiscal year, with 70 million games sold to retailers in total. 710,000 Nintendo 3DS consoles were sold during the first fiscal quarter, while 4.53 million Nintendo 3DS games were sold. Life-to-date, 3DS has sold 4.32 million units since its launch earlier this year, Nintendo said, with 13.96 million software units sold. For the first quarter ended June 30, Nintendo saw net loss of ¥25.5 billion ($324.1 million). Revenue was down 50.2 percent, to ¥93.9 billion ($1.19 billion) from ¥188.6 billion ($2.40 billion) in the same quarter of last year. The company admitted that, while the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D has been favorable, there were currently "few other hit titles" for the handheld. The 3DS is only one console in Nintendo's stable. The company also said that the Wii shipped 1.56 million units during the quarter, bringing the lifetime global total to 87.57 million units. The company expects to sell 12 million Wiis to retailers this fiscal year. The aging 3DS predecessor Nintendo DS saw shipments of 1.44 million units during the quarter, bringing its lifetime total to 147.86 million worldwide. Nintendo expects DS shipments of 9 million units this fiscal year.