Nintendo’s Future Uncertain as Hardware Sales Decline

There was once a time where Nintendo seemed untouchable. It was the golden boy of the video game industry, with many beloved well-known pixel protagonists behind its brand. People could look to Nintendo for innovation, something mindblowingly new that would take gaming to the next level.

Lately, Nintendo’s well of luck and innovation seems to be running dry. The Wii, although an overwhelming success at the beginning of its life cycle, is slogging in sales, prompting Nintendo to leapfrog Sony and Microsoft in developing its next-gen console, the Wii U. Just like its name, the new HD console’s design seems uninspired, pumped out for the sole reason of sales. It seems that Nintendo, seeing the 3DS’s failure to sell as a result of lack of third party developers, is bending over backwards to get third party developers on board with the Wii U. Nintendo’s investors seemed dubious about their future, and the E3 Wii U announcement was accompanied by a significant drop in Nintendo’s stock.

The company’s financial future looks gloomy as it is now falling further and further behind Sony and Microsoft. The 3DS is predicted to sell 21 million units less than the original DS by 2015. Its stock, which in 2007 was at a high of 80,000 yen, has now plummeted to 11,850 yen.

Nintendo definitely has a task ahead for itself. Hopefully, the Wii U is enough of a success to bring Nintendo back from this hopefully temporary low-point in its company history.

[Via Yahoo Finance]

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  • KingNintendoFanboy

    Sorry you don’t think that the Wii U is innovative.  Also I feel that this is mostly a “low” point only because the company is transitioning to two new pieces of hardware.

  • KingNintendoFanboy

    Sorry you don’t think that the Wii U is innovative.  Also I feel that this is mostly a “low” point only because the company is transitioning to two new pieces of hardware.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XA6XUSURPM6FHULXVVJAENRG4Y Tanto

    “iSuppli predicts Nintendo will sell 70 million 3DS gaming systems by
    2015, a figure that is 21 million less than the 91 million in sales
    racked up by the original DS at the same point in its sales cycle,”
    according to the Unofficial Apple Weblog.

    Yeah. An apple
    website wouldnt be bias. And 1 bias site is the only site we should be
    listening too? Most analysts have the 3ds selling over 14 million units
    in its first fiscal year which would be more than the ds did.

    “The 2010 market share of Nintendo DS fell from 70% in 2009 to 57%.
    Nintendo’s growth has also been damaged by the rise of the iPad and
    iPhone. ”

    False. Those marketshare reports were confirmed
    BS when it was determined that less than 60 percent of all ios owners
    game on it.

    Nintendo has the 3ds outselling the ds fiscally for its first year by a couple million units.

    Considering the 3ds is number 1 in US, japan, and maybe europe right now proves this is bs

    • Anonymous

      Only after a price drop…

      • KingNintendoFanboy

        So what?  #1 is #1!  :P

      • http://twitter.com/Mickaplease Mick Joest

        More than you can say for the PSP BITCH! FACE!

      • http://twitter.com/Mickaplease Mick Joest

        More than you can say for the PSP BITCH! FACE!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=526840323 Sean Holt

    sorry the wii u is nothing but a high def wii with some extras that has already been done. but the wii u while sell bucketloads i might upgrade to the high def wii.

  • Anonymous

    Hmm. Articles seem a dime a dozen lately but this is the first one I read that pointed out it’s stock price right now. 80,000 down to just over 11,000 is a mammoth drop… 0_0. Hope Nintendo is able to pull up it’s pants and get back in the race :)

  • Iowa_heretic6663

    the wiiu will be great

    the 3ds is great and has been selling well for the past 2 months

    and you’re an idiot

    ty

  • Superfly Snuka

    Nintendo is for little boys and girls who like to play games with disgustingly cute characters.

    • http://twitter.com/Mickaplease Mick Joest

      AW YEAH I KNOW D00D! What’s your clantag on COD?! We’ll train ass on little babies in team deathmatch!!!!#$#@#

      …seriously though, how old are you?

    • http://twitter.com/Mickaplease Mick Joest

      AW YEAH I KNOW D00D! What’s your clantag on COD?! We’ll train ass on little babies in team deathmatch!!!!#$#@#

      …seriously though, how old are you?

  • http://www.facebook.com/gwwampler Gregory William Wampler

    I don’t think many people understand what stock value actually means. This isn’t the ONLY money Nintendo has. They also make profit just like anyone else and they just came off of TWO huge profit making machines in the DS and Wii. They have enough money to go without ANY investing for quite some time. Also, stock prices always decline when a company is transitioning to new hardware not to mention Nintendo is in the middle of one transition and about to start another which both are trying to change the gaming landscape yet again.

    Trust me. Nintendo isn’t in trouble. They’ll be fine. However, I do think anyone with money out their should be investing in Nintendo right now while the price is low.

  • Anonymous

    So many sweeping assumptions and misused figures…

    1. 3DS hasn’t “failed”. It’s still being supported, it’s still being purchased, it’s still being sold..

    2. Wii might not be selling as hotly as it was when it was first released, but if you add up the amount of consoles both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have sold life-to-date, Wii beats them by several MILLION units… This means that Wii still has a sizeable chunk – a 50% chunk – of the market share.

    3. Of course Wii U was built for the “sole reason for sales” – why the hell else would a company make anything? For the betterment of society? lol.
    4. I’m predicting the 3DS will sell 21 Million MORE units than DS. There, your prediction is mooted.

    5. You’re comparing the stock price from 2007 to todays? lol again. Learn investment. At least look into the factors that have affected the hourly stock price since 2007… like a global economy melt down, a strong Yen and an earthquake that shattered an entire country, to name a couple…

    Nintendo aren’t in any trouble. If 3DS “fails” – I mean, ACTUALLY fails, they will merely release something else and try again. Like any company. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OXZDYKYZKULMYC2RHH5NWKU2GE Kick

    I seriously hope noone payed you for this article because it’s alot of opinion and no substance.

  • http://twitter.com/Mickaplease Mick Joest

    You may not remember this Xbox/Sony fanboy blogger cuz you were only 12 when the Wii was first announced…but the same thing happened. Many uneducated video game journalists talked about the demise of Nintendo, only to be proved wrong. Also you compared 3DS sales to the greatest selling portable of all time and honestly when put that way…the numbers sound pretty damn good.

    Also where do you think the “innovation” for Kinect and Move came from?

    Maybe you should stop reading forum boards and do some “real” research.

  • http://twitter.com/Mickaplease Mick Joest

    You may not remember this Xbox/Sony fanboy blogger cuz you were only 12 when the Wii was first announced…but the same thing happened. Many uneducated video game journalists talked about the demise of Nintendo, only to be proved wrong. Also you compared 3DS sales to the greatest selling portable of all time and honestly when put that way…the numbers sound pretty damn good.

    Also where do you think the “innovation” for Kinect and Move came from?

    Maybe you should stop reading forum boards and do some “real” research.

  • Javier

    Nintendo can go down as low as it wants, it can still sky rocket to the top. Remember? Gamecube to Wii?

  • Javier

    Nintendo can go down as low as it wants, it can still sky rocket to the top. Remember? Gamecube to Wii?

  • Gconjr

      Look at Nintendo’s history, the cycles of their consoles have been 5-6yrs! Of course Wii sales are down it’s at the end of the life cycle. Sony/Microsoft have broken this cycle beacause after about 5yrs they are finally making money one their consoles. They have been selling their consoles at a loss since then. Nintendo has always been known for being innovative & have contributed alot to the video game industry.
      There has been natural disasters all over the world and not to metion we are in a bad economy. This is one of the factors why the 3DS did not meet expectations. Nintendo’s only real failure was the Virtual Boy. Lets not forget about mobile gaming, they are taking away a piece of the pie. This will affect both the 3DS and Vita beacause of the free or cheap .99cent games.
     In short this article is just plain garbage! The title is just to get attention and have readers dumb enough like myself to read it.
      

  • Gconjr

      Look at Nintendo’s history, the cycles of their consoles have been 5-6yrs! Of course Wii sales are down it’s at the end of the life cycle. Sony/Microsoft have broken this cycle beacause after about 5yrs they are finally making money one their consoles. They have been selling their consoles at a loss since then. Nintendo has always been known for being innovative & have contributed alot to the video game industry.
      There has been natural disasters all over the world and not to metion we are in a bad economy. This is one of the factors why the 3DS did not meet expectations. Nintendo’s only real failure was the Virtual Boy. Lets not forget about mobile gaming, they are taking away a piece of the pie. This will affect both the 3DS and Vita beacause of the free or cheap .99cent games.
     In short this article is just plain garbage! The title is just to get attention and have readers dumb enough like myself to read it.
      

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6PVRCKCPLKG4TTDIKDX6ZCMBQI steinhauershawn

    So they article says Nintendo is not selling but another article elsewhere claims that 3DS sales are up 260 Percent.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6PVRCKCPLKG4TTDIKDX6ZCMBQI steinhauershawn

    So they article says Nintendo is not selling but another article elsewhere claims that 3DS sales are up 260 Percent.