For many of us Nintendo has been around as long as we can remember, but their latest game hardware is not doing great. The Wii U has flopped and Nintendo has reduced sales forecasts for this year to 2.8 million consoles, down from 9 million.
Nintendo expects huge loss for 2014
Nintendo’s first Wii living room console was a big hit, but the new Wii U has flopped. It was not off to a great start and Nintendo has since reduced the price significantly. Even that move has not helped Nintendo and they are now revising their sales estimate down by a staggering 69 %.
The slump in Wii U sales is also affecting sales of games, obviously. Nintendo has also lowered the sales forecast for the handheld 3DS from 18 million to 13.5 million.
The Wii U has flopped
Nintendo is now expecting a loss of around 250 million USD for the fiscal year 2014, and is considering a new business strategy. Nintendo has dismissed the rise of smartphone games for years, but they are now “studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business”. However, Nintendo adds that “it's not as simple as enabling Mario to move on a smartphone.".
What will become of Nintendo? A future without Nintendo hardware consoles is not unlikely at this point, it seems.
- "The way people use their time, their lifestyles, who they are have changed," said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata at a press conference in Japan.
Wii U flops, Nintendo considering new strategy
