Sega Sammy Enjoys Positive First Quarter

Author: by David Jenkins, Simon Carless

Representatives from Sega Sammy Holdings have reported the company’s first quarter results, the first since the merger of pachinko and arcade manufacturer Sammy and video games stalwart Sega. The new company’s group net income was ¥10.7 billion ($95.5m), with sales totaling ¥110.5 billion ($986.6m). All results were in line with company forecasts, and the boost was rising sales of video game software and coin-operated pachinko machines. Over 153,000 pachinko machines were sold during the quarter – representing the bulk of Sammy’s business, and thus of the company as a whole. Particularly singled out was the Capcom-licensed, Onimusha 3-branded pachinko/slot machine, which posted sales of 50,000 units for the quarter, and a total of 119,000 so far for the fiscal year. In the arcade arena, the hit beetle-battling CCG The King of Beetle Mushiking was one of the highlights for the firm, which decreased its amount of wholly-owned Japanese arcades slightly to 470 during the quarter, although it still opened 5 new centers to reach that total. Finally, Sega Sammy-branded console and portable video games, which make up around one eighth of the company's overall revenues, also performed decently, with total worldwide sales of 1,860,000 for the quarter, comprising 840,000 copies of games sold in Japan, 640,000 in Europe, and a slightly disappointing 380,000 copies in North America. However, the segment did show a loss of around ¥2.05 billion ($18 million) for the quarter when split out from Sega's overall results. Nonetheless, a particular highlight for Sega's consumer sales was Game Boy Advance title and arcade conversion The King of Beetle MushiKing: Road To Greatest Champion, which launched positively in Japan, actually topping the charts during its June launch. The merger of Sega and Sammy, developing home sales aside, is now widely regarded as a success by those both inside and outside of the company, with concerns of a massive exodus of Sega staff failing to materialize. In fact, Sammy’s influence on Sega’s operations has also proven to be far less divisive than many had suggested, with Sega beginning to diversify its portfolio in the West and recently unveiling its new PowerVR based Lindbergh arcade technology.