Nintendo, the maker of video games said that the sales of its Wii U, the console/controller combo have flopped and helped push the company into its third straight annual loss.
Nintendo cut its forecast for global sales for its Wii U for its fiscal year ending March 31 by nearly 70%. Sales for the company’s 3DS handheld console were slashed as well from 18 million units to 13.5 million.
Nintendo’s president Satoru Iwata said in a prepared statement for shareholders that the company did not reach its target for sales of hardware during the yearend when its revenues are at their highest.
As far as home consoles, the market is shared nearly equally by the PlayStation from Sony and the Xbox by Microsoft. The two consoles that are higher-end have the support of franchise titles like Grand Theft Auto, making life even tougher for consoles made by Nintendo.
Iwata made an apology to Nintendo shareholders in Osaka at a shareholder briefing, for the poor performance of the company, but did hint he was not going to step down as president.
He said that over the short term there would be no major shakeup in management. Iwata, in 2006, entered the spotlight after creating a new niche with Wii consoles that were tailored to include the entire family and not only hardcore gamers.
Nintendo has to date declined to allow its different games to be played on other machines that competitors make or even on other mobile devices such as tablets.
For the fiscal year that ends March 31, Nintendo has predicted a loss of more than 25 billion yen, which is a large reversal from its projection that was for a profit of 55 billion yen. Revenues are expected to reach 590 billion yen, which is 36% less than the original forecast.
The company also expects it will suffer operating losses of 35 billion yen during this business year.
(U.S. $1 = 104.2 Japanese yen)
