devmod
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Jan 29, 2005, 7:40 PM
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Nintendo Lowers Earnings Forecasts
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Nintendo earnings nearly doubled for the first nine months of the year on the back of the success of its new handheld video game player which has two screens, the game maker reported. But Nintendo lowered its sales and profit forecasts for the full fiscal year ending March 31, 2005, citing expected declines in sales of other machines besides the hit Nintendo DS.
Group net profit increased to 67.8 billion yen ($651 million) for the April-December period from 34.5 billion yen in the same period a year ago. Sales totaled 419 billion yen ($4 billion) for the nine months, down 4.6 percent from 440 billion yen a year ago. The company did not break down quarterly earnings.
Although sales of Nintendo DS, which stands for "dual screen," were healthy, sales of other Nintendo machines are continuing to decline, the company said. A poor foreign exchange rate is also expected to bring down sales and profits.
Nintendo also said sales of the GameCube home console are expected to fall short, as well as those for Nintendo DS game software. Nintendo lowered its sales forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31 to 520 billion yen ($5 billion), down from the previous forecast of 540 billion yen ($5.2 billion). Its also expects a net profit of 70 billion yen ($672 million) for the fiscal year, down 22 percent from Nintendo's initial 90 billion yen ($865 million) forecast in November.
The company said the Nintendo DS has been a success, selling more than 2.84 million since going on sale Nov. 21 in the United States and Dec. 2 in Japan. It sold 1.45 million Nintendo DS machines in Japan, 1.36 million in North America, and 30,000 in other areas. It sold 5 million units of Nintendo DS game software — 2.1 million in Japan and 2.89 million in North America.
Sales for the Game Boy declined during the nine months to 14.3 million worldwide, down from 15.6 million in the same period a year ago. But Game Boy software sales edged up to 72.6 million from 61.5 million.
The GameCube also lagged in sales, falling to 3.46 million sold around the world over the nine months from 3.77 million in the same period a year earlier. Software sales for GameCube fared better, climbing to 40.3 million from 37.7 million. The titles included the popular "Mario Party 6," which uses a microphone so players can answer quizzes and command characters; and "Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door" — the adventures of the famous plumber in a picture-book setting.
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