James Delahunty
26 Oct 2011 3:45
Nintendo's fiscal H1 results are eagerly awaited.
The company will report its financial figures for the fiscal first half on Thursday. It had previously forecast a loss of ¥55 billion (around $720 million) for the period, but a report is now suggesting that the loss could be far worse than Nintendo itself anticipated.
The online edition of the Nikkei business daily has reported that the loss will be closer to ¥100 billion, or around $1.32 billion, for the fiscal first half ending September 30. At a point after the news, Nintendo shares took a 7.5 percent plunge.
Nintendo is experiencing increased competition from mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, which are appealing to casual gamers. Nintendo heavily targeted casual gamers with its Wii home console and DS handhelds. Recently, it has seen interest in both the Wii, and the DS, wane.
The Nintendo 3DS handheld, for example, has only managed to sold 4.32 million units since it was launched, while total Nintendo DS sales since its 2004 launch, top 150 million across all revisions.
To add to the problems of increased competition and waning interest in its products, Nintendo also suffers as a result of the surging yen currency, hitting the value of overseas earnings for exporters in Japan.
Nintendo is fighting back, cutting the price of the 3DS handheld before the holiday season, bringing on-demand movies and TV shows to U.S. customers, and preparing new titles that should arouse some interest among consumers.