Nintendo has lowered annual worldwide sales projections for the company’s Wii U games console sharply down from an earlier 9 million units to 2.8 million units, and estimates for global 3DS sales from 18 million to 13.5 million units. Nintendo also expects a third straight annual loss of 35 billion JPY (circa US$335 million) for the 2013 fiscal year.
“The fact that the ‘Wii U strategy’ has failed is disappointing and will likely trigger a sell-off as soon as the market opens,” said Myojo Asset Management CEO Makoto Kikuchi prior to market opening in Tokyo. Nintendo shares dropped of 17 per cent in early trading on Friday.
In a shareholder meeting in Osaka, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata apologised for the dismal forecasts but reaffirmed that he does not plan to step down.
Iwata also revealed in a press conference that the company is exploring “a new business structure” as well as smartphones and tablets in an effort to revitalise the company’s operations.
“We are thinking about a new business structure,” said Iwata. “Given the expansion of smart devices, we are naturally studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business. It’s not as simple as enabling Mario to move on a smartphone.”
Market research analyst NPD also announced that the Nintendo 3DS handheld had outperformed all other game consoles globally in 2013, a strong result despite the company’s overall poor performance this fiscal year.
