(All figures in US dollars)
Nintendo is like a freight train – it's got huge momentum and you better not be standing on the track. The Japanese giant today revealed first quarter fiscal results that show a 33.7 percent rise in profit to 107.3 billion yen ($993 million) and a 24 percent increase in net sales to 423.3 billion yen ($3.91 billion).
During the three-month period ended June 30, Nintendo sold another 5.17 million Wii consoles worldwide (up 50 percent) and another 6.94 million units of the DS (which was down from 6.98 million year-over-year). In total, life-to-date sales of the Wii and DS now stand at 29.62 million units and 77.54 million units, respectively.
Wii software sales enjoyed a nice bump, rising 24.42 million units to 40.41 million. Mario Kart Wii, which sold 6.42 million units in the period, and Wii Fit, which sold 3.42 million units, were the main sales drivers. DS software sales were also up, increasing by 2.33 million units to 36.59 million.
Although Nintendo's Q1 results were quite good, they didn't match up against the fivefold increase the company experienced a year ago. That said, it would not be realistic to expect the company to continue at that torrid pace. "I would call it a pretty steady performance as opposed to blowing the doors off, which is what we've been used to from Nintendo," Hiroshi Kamide, an analyst at KBC Securities Japan told the AFP in Tokyo. "Their growth rates were unsustainable, so we were expecting things to slow down."
One area of slight concern for Nintendo could be the DS hardware sales slip. "Obviously Wii demand is extremely strong overseas. But for the first time, we've actually seen DS hardware sales fall year-on-year," Kamide said. "The DS has hit a bit of a high-water mark." Another analyst recently said that we should expect Nintendo to stimulate the market with a brand-new DS within a year.
Looking ahead, Nintendo is maintaining its previous forecast for a 26.3 percent rise in net profit to 325 billion yen for the full fiscal year to March and an 8.8 percent rise in operating profit to 530 billion yen.
