Nintendo Returns to Profitability Despite Missing Wii U Sales Goal
Nintendo Co. on Wednesday is back in black after reporting its first full-year loss in the history of the company last year. This time around, Nintendo's financial report reflects a profit of 7.1 billion yen (around $71.7 million) for its fiscal year ended in March, up from a loss of 43.2 billion yen ($436 million) in the prior year. At the same time, Nintendo posted an operating loss of 36.4 billion yen, or $366 million.
What those numbers reveal is that Nintendo benefited from a recent weakening of the yen, which hit a four-year low earlier this month, ultimately helping the company squeeze out a profit.
As for hardware sales, Nintendo sold 3.46 million Wii U consoles around the globe last year. Nintendo had set a goal to sell 4 million units after previously lowering a forecast of 5.5 million Wii U sales. Despite Nintendo's best efforts, gamers just aren't flocking to its latest generation console the way they did with the original Wii. Even more concerning for Nintendo is that Wii U sales seemed to have stalled after selling 3.06 million from launch through last December. It's hard to see sales gaining much momentum with Microsoft's Xbox 720 and Sony's PlayStation 4 headed to retail by the end of the year.
Nintendo's doing a better job moving its 3DS handheld console. Global sales of 3DS hardware and software totaled 13.95 million units and 49.61 million units, respectively, Nintendo reports. The New Super Marios Bros. 2 title accounted for 6.42 million of those software unit sales.
What those numbers reveal is that Nintendo benefited from a recent weakening of the yen, which hit a four-year low earlier this month, ultimately helping the company squeeze out a profit.
As for hardware sales, Nintendo sold 3.46 million Wii U consoles around the globe last year. Nintendo had set a goal to sell 4 million units after previously lowering a forecast of 5.5 million Wii U sales. Despite Nintendo's best efforts, gamers just aren't flocking to its latest generation console the way they did with the original Wii. Even more concerning for Nintendo is that Wii U sales seemed to have stalled after selling 3.06 million from launch through last December. It's hard to see sales gaining much momentum with Microsoft's Xbox 720 and Sony's PlayStation 4 headed to retail by the end of the year.
Nintendo's doing a better job moving its 3DS handheld console. Global sales of 3DS hardware and software totaled 13.95 million units and 49.61 million units, respectively, Nintendo reports. The New Super Marios Bros. 2 title accounted for 6.42 million of those software unit sales.
