Nintendo Announces 3rd Quarter Financials
Nintendo’s third quarter is always one of the most important since it contains the sales data from the holidays, the busiest time of year for the company. Partially due to a lack of huge titles this past holiday season, exasperated by the delays of Star Fox Zero and The Legend of Zelda Wii U, Nintendo saw a 36% decrease in third quarter profit when compared to the prior year. However, it should be noted that when looking at the total of the first 9 months of Nintendo’s fiscal year, profit actually decreased 32% over the same reporting period the prior year. Here’s a look at the income statement for the first 9 months:
3DS
During the nine month period ended December 31, 2015, for Nintendo 3DS, “New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL,” both of which launched during the previous period as the newest members of the Nintendo 3DS family, made up the bulk of the Nintendo 3DS hardware sales. As for the Nintendo 3DS software, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer became a hit by selling 2.93 million units globally, while in overseas markets, popular titles such as Pokémon Omega Ruby/Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS which were released during the previous fiscal year showed steady sales. In the Japanese market, titles such as Rhythm Tengoku (Japanese title) and Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright/Conquest gained popularity. In addition, some third-party titles sold over a million units as well. As a result, the global sales of the Nintendo 3DS hardware and software were 5.88 million and 38.87 million units respectively.
Wii U
With respect to Wii U, Splatoon sold 4.06 million units and Super Mario Maker sold 3.34 million units, making both titles blockbusters that vitalized the Wii U platform. In addition, Yoshi’s Woolly World, which was released during this period, and evergreen titles released in the previous period such as Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U showed steady sales. The global sales of the Wii U hardware and software reached 3.06 million and 22.62 million units respectively.
amiibo
For amiibo, the figure-type and the card-type sold approximately 20.50 million units and approximately 21.50 million units, respectively, and the platform showed strong performance globally without losing momentum. Furthermore, sales of additional download content for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U increased and total download sales reached 30.5 billion yen.
Overall
As a result, net sales were 425.6 billion yen (of which overseas sales were 308.9 billion yen or 72.6% of the total sales) and operating income was 42.4 billion yen. Ordinary income was 55.2 billion yen and profit attributable to owners of parent was 40.5 billion yen.
Forecast For January – March
For Nintendo 3DS, we will globally release a special edition hardware pre-installed with Pokémon title(s) from the original Pokémon series on February 27 which marks the 20th year since the original Pokémon series release. Furthermore, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and key titles from third-party publishers are scheduled for release.
For Wii U, we will strive to maintain the attention level of Splatoon and Super Mario Maker, which are continuing to show steady sales, while introducing new titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD.
Meanwhile, for amiibo, we will continue to expand the product lineup in order to maintain momentum. At the same time, we will aim to further expand sales by offering new gaming experiences with the use of amiibo. In addition, the first application for smart devices, Miitomo, is scheduled for release.
There is no revision to the consolidated financial forecast for this fiscal year, announced on May 7, 2015.
Here’s an updated look at hardware sales. Wii U has hit 12.6 million systems sold. With over 7 million copies of Mario Kart 8 sold, it has an insane attach rate – 57% of all Wii U owners have bought the game (or it was included in a bundle). 3DS is approaching 60 million sold with 57.94 million.
Unfortunately no mention of NX during the briefing. However, that doesn’t mean it won’t come up during the question and answer period, which we should hear about sometime after 5 PM PT / 7 PM CT / 8 PM ET. Typically Nintendo delivers information in a very coordinated manner and will reveal NX details when they see fit. I wouldn’t expect anything from the Q & A, but maybe we’ll get a small nugget to chew on until they finally begin lifting the curtain.
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.
