Nintendo posts $457 million operating loss due to sluggish Wii U sales
Nintendo has posted an operating loss of $457 million for the financial year ending March 31st, making it the third straight year of annual losses for the gaming giant.
The Wii U, Nintendo’s next gen console and successor to the wildly popular Wii, has not managed to gain market traction and only managed to sell 2.72 million units in the last 12 months.
Back in January, Nintendo had cut Wii U sales forecast by about 70%, from 9 million to 2.8 million units. The Wii U, which has been out for 18 months, has sold 6.17 million units.
Compared to its competitors whose next gen console has been out on the market for six months, Sony’s PlayStation 4 has to date sold 7 million units while Microsoft’s Xbox One has sold 5 million units.
Things were better for the Nintendo 3DS which sold 12.24 million units worldwide and 67.89 million games. Lifetime sales of the Nintendo 3DS has reached an impressive 43.33 million units sold.
Despite the slow growth, Nintendo is optimistic for 2015 and will try to help stimulate the growth of the Wii U.
Regarding “Wii U,” which still faces a challenging sales situation, Nintendo will focus on efforts that seek to stimulate the platform.
In terms of compatible software, by positioning “Mario Kart 8,” scheduled to be released globally in May, and “Super Smash Bros. for “Wii U,” scheduled to be released this winter, as two main drivers, both of which are titles that a wide range of consumers can enjoy either alone or with other players, Nintendo will seek to supply high quality games on a continuous basis.
It still remains to be seen how Nintendo will be able to pull itself out of the financial hole it has found itself in. But with three consecutive fiscal losses, it will require tremendous effort on Nintendo’s part to bring some life back to the company.