If you've been following our Japanese hardware sales series, or caught last month's NPD report, or have a pulse and leave the house, you've no doubt heard that Nintendo's DS and Wii consoles are ... well, they're sort of a big deal. How big a deal? The pair are responsible for Nintendo's "record high" fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2007. The stats:

* consolidated fiscal year revenues of ¥966.5 billion, a 90% increase
* operating profits of ¥226.0 billion, a 150% increase
* 23 million Nintendo DS consoles last year, lifetime sales of 40 million
* 5.84 million Wii consoles in less than five months, "nearly" 29 million Wii games

Now for the projections for the fiscal year which began April 1, 2007:

* consolidated sales increasing nearly 18% to ¥1.14 trillion
* operating profits growing nearly 20% to ¥270 billion
* 22 million Nintendo DS systems and 130 million games
* 14 million Wii systems and 55 million games worldwide (will that be enough?)

http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=12043

NINTENDO POSTS RECORD YEAR ON STRONG NINTENDO DS SALES, BREAKTHROUGH RECEPTION FOR WII

April 26, 2007

Nintendo Co., Ltd., today reported final consolidated fiscal year revenues of 966.5 billion yen and operating profits of 226.0 billion yen for the year ending March 31, 2007, an increase of 90 percent and 150 percent, respectively, over the same period one year ago. Both numbers are record highs for the company.

The results are due largely to full-year sales of more than 23 million portable Nintendo DS™ systems globally, along with 123 million Nintendo DS games. Since introduction, the Nintendo DS has now eclipsed lifetime sales of 40 million systems.

In addition, in less than five months since introduction, the company sold 5.84 million of its new Wii™ home video game systems globally, virtually every one snapped up immediately by consumers, along with nearly 29 million Wii games. Wii has taken a step toward becoming a cultural phenomenon, appealing widely to both avid and previously disinterested game-playing audiences.

For the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2007, Nintendo projects sales of 14 million Wii systems and 55 million games worldwide. The company projects sales of 22 million Nintendo DS hardware unit sales and 130 million software units sales. Nintendo forecasts consolidated sales increasing nearly 18 percent to 1.14 trillion yen, and operating profits growing nearly 20 percent to 270 billion yen.

All financial projections are based on an anticipated ratio of 115 yen to the U.S. dollar, and 150 yen to the euro. Using this estimate, recurring and net profits for the year are projected to be flat in anticipation of a foreign currency reevaluation loss.

For more information about Nintendo, please visit Nintendo.com.

Note: Forecasts announced by the company referred to above were prepared based on management's assumptions with information available at this time and therefore involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Please note such risks and uncertainties may cause the actual results to be materially different from the forecasts.

 

Heh they expect to sell way more Ds's than Wii's this year....

 

Well, there are more of them to sell, and more games currently available for it. I would expect them to sell more of the DS too.

 

You have to remember, these are very strong predictions. They are actually predicting the DS sales will be decline by 1 million, and judging from the 5 months=roughly 6 million Wiis the predictions will be dead right if they continue to sell at the rate they are.

You just have to also put into retrospective, that both systems have a limited production pool vs the demand which seems to be great. One might say that the Wii numbers could be a bit cocky, since I have a hard time believing they system sales will remain as they have. Could you imagine people still having to camp the Wii all through this year up into next holiday season?! That would be remarkable sales, and would mean a massive success for Nintendo they haven't seen in a long time.

Also in retrospective, you have to remember that the DS Lite is naturally going to start to wane a bit with there already being so many systems purchased and it's only going to pull in so many new people. It's got a great library, and Pokemon is going to be a drawing point for a lot of people. However, I can't see there being another gigantic boom of sales since there has already been an original Mario title, an original WarioWare, an original Animal Crossing, an original Pokemon, an original Metroid title among many other titles. What's going to keep the system moving, is either another AAA class first party title like Fire Emblem, a 2D Metroid, an original Legend of Zelda (which is on the way), and any of the other quality big name titles I can't think of at the moment. There is also the Web Browser that comes out on June 6th, which will be a nice addition to system.

That's not to say that the DS doesn't need a strong showing from the third parties, which it does have already especially in regions like Japan which seems to practically have a new DS title announced or released every day. We've got an original FFXII sequel coming, a sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics, another 2 Ace Attourney games which are most likely coming state side, and tons of other titles like Ouendan 2 and most likely Elite Beat Agents 2.

The Wii has a bunch of titles coming to it, and it still has the Gamecube and Virtual Console library to supplement it. So it has got a lot of good reasons for it to be such an attractive console and don't get me wrong quite a few downsides. It's become sort of the poster boy for the publics interest in next gen gaming since PS3 seems to have become shunned. The 14 million consoles is nothing to really scoff at either X-Box 360 sold 10 million in a single year, and i'm sure none of the other next gen systems would be displeased with those results.

 

I don't think they're exactly holding back. That's never been their strategy before, and if they could sell more consoles, they'd be making even more money. They would love to sell a Wii to everyone who wants one.

 

*hugs his DS Lite*

 

I think the numbers sound reasonable to me. Hopefully the shortages won't continue for long, because I'll need to be getting a Wii soon. If they do stop, it could just as well reflect improved production and distribution. I think when you add in the next holiday season, with SSB, Mario and Metroid (and maybe more), they could easily add another 4 million or so just in that window. That makes 14 million by next March very doable IMM.

 

There's no reason to believe this.
The DS Lite has been out in japan for a year, and it still sells out nation wide every single week.

 

They'll have a great upcoming fiscal year, once they flood the market with all the Wii's they've held back.

 

And what makes you think they're holding back on Wiis?

 

Think about it:

There's little to no supply of the system since Christmas. Christmas! No company is short stocks on a system, especially if it sells well (supply and demand).

Nintendo never pulled this stunt before. In fact, I can never remember a time when a console was so hard to find in a store. Especially after 5 months.

They are enetering their next fiscal year. Perfect time to unleash Wii's onto the market.

 

The reason there is no supply is because the demand is too great. Unlike PS3's, people are -still- standing in lines when stores open in order to get the system. And like someone else said, DS lites sell out every damn week in Japan, are you saying they're holding back on those as well?

 

gamestop said they were holding back, only to cover the fact that gamestop, like walmart and other stores, were holding THEIR stock back.

Nintendo isnt holding back. their output is higher now than it ever has been.

Wiis are getting a bit easier to find as well. still hard, but not as hard.

It would hurt Nintendo to hold the system back. its selling like mad. by putting more systems out that they KNOW will sell, their profits will soar. There is no reason at all that they would want to hold their stock.

 

Didn't somebody say they'd eat a DS or give away there collection if the DS became a success?

 

There was a guy here who -swore- the PSP would kill the DS and that if the DS was still around in a year he'd give away his entire TF collection.

 

Yep. Never, ever trust anything Gamestop says. Unless they say they're going to screw you over. You can probably take their word on that.

Anyone who thinks Nintendo is holding back the supply of Wiis isn't thinking it through enough. For starters, as has been pointed out before, it would lose them a lot of potential sales. There's absolutely no reason Nintendo would do that. Nintendo makes a profit on each Wii sold. A lost potential sale is lost profit. Sony and MS can afford to hold back a few units or slow down production and pretend it's a shortage because they take a loss on each system sold. Losing a bunch of money at one time is bad. Slow it down and it makes the company's financial situation look better and has the beneficial side effect of making the system look more in demand than it really is. When selling each console is a profit rather than a loss, you don't want to do that.

Also, you don't sell 6.4 million consoles in less than six months by holding back. Seriously.

 

yeh i think it was november 21st 2005 or something that guy said that about giving away his entire transformers collection, it was in someones sig, but when the time came he just backed out

 

Look at OmegaScourge's sig. 2 years later and he hasn't changed it yet.

On topic: I just hope third party game makers notice Nintendo selling shitloads of
Wiis and put their top games on the Wii.

 

There's no way Nintendo is holding back. Toys R Us STILL has lines outside everytime they get a shipment in, and sell out within 5 minutes of opening.