Nintendo Sees Loss on Dismal Wii U Sales Game Maker Slashes Wii U Console Sales View
Shoppers take escalators under the logo of Nintendo and Super Mario characters at an electronics store in Tokyo in December. Associated Press TOKYO—Nintendo Co. Friday said it now expects to post an operating loss in the current business year ending in March, blaming much weaker than expected sales of game consoles and software during the year-end shopping season.
The Kyoto-based company said it estimates an operating loss of ¥35 billion, considerably worse than the ¥100 billion profit it previously predicted in April. The revised figure compares with the ¥36.41 billion operating loss it posted in the last fiscal year.
The dismal performance highlights how Nintendo, which competes with Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp., in the videogame market, has been struggling to sell its Wii U consoles and software as its rivals pull ahead with the latest generation of devices.
For the full fiscal year, the company sharply cut its Wii U console sales outlook to 2.8 million units from 9 million.
As a result, it cut its overall sales outlook to ¥590 billion, 36% below its previous forecast of ¥920 billion.