“Nintendo Co. (7974) posted a fourth-quarter net loss that was greater than analyst estimates amid flagging demand for its titles and as the company struggles to lure players back from inexpensive games on smartphones,” Takashi Amano reports for Bloomberg. “The world’s largest maker of video-game machines had a net loss of 33.4 billion yen ($329 million) in the three months ended March, compared with the 27.9 billion-yen loss analysts had estimated. Nintendo’s Germany-traded shares dropped.”
“President Satoru Iwata is struggling to revive the company’s fortunes as more people turn to games played on smartphones and tablets. Nintendo sold 2.72 million Wii U units in the year ended March, missing its own forecast set in January, which itself was lowered from before,” Amano reports. “Games played on Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhones and handsets using Google Inc.’s Android operating system generated more sales than those on Nintendo and Sony Corp. (6758)’s handheld players for the first time last year, according to researcher App Annie Ltd. Wii U sales will recover to 3.6 million units this fiscal year as games including Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. boost demand, Iwata said at a briefing today.”
“Nintendo’s German shares fell as much as 4.6 percent to 74.79 euros in Frankfurt trading,” Amano reports. “The Kyoto-based company declined 2.7 percent to close at 10,670 yen in Tokyo trading before the announcement. The shares have dropped 24 percent this year and 76 percent since June 29, 2007, when Apple Inc. released the first iPhone.”
Read more in the full article here.
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