Nintendo: 3DS is "Finally Ready" for Overseas Sales Explosion
Company aiming for 100bn yen operating profit for fiscal year.
Nintendo has previously put its weak fiscal performance down to slow sales of Wii U and 3DS in overseas markets. In an investor meeting this morning, global president Satoru Iwata said that the company aims to turn that around, starting with the 3DS handheld, this year - aiming for an operating profit of 100 billion yen.
While the 3DS has been performing well in Japan, where it is currently the leading platform, Iwata admits that "in the US and Europe, we were unable to create sufficient momentum of the Nintendo 3DS system during the holiday season, and so the situation was not looking good at the beginning of the year." Shrinking market sizes also contributed to the sales slump.
But Iwata believes that Nintendo is on the cusp of a major sales breakthrough with the handheld - it just needs a little bit of a push. And the upcoming lineup the company has prepared aims to offer just that.
"We consider our top priority business task is to achieve our aim of maintaining the momentum of Nintendo 3DS in Japan, which one can say is already on an ideal track, and make it a platform with a larger presence in the overseas markets," the executive said.
"Particularly in the first half of this year, we plan to intensively release key titles into the market so that the Nintendo 3DS business in the overseas markets will gain momentum before the launch of "Animal Crossing: New Leaf" in June."
Noting that a number of third parties are finally feeling ready to support the 3DS, now that things are on the up, Iwata pointed to games such as Shin Megami Tensei IV, Skylanders, Project X Zone, Harvest Moon 3D and Bravely Default as examples where Nintendo will better collaborate with other studios and try its best to bring Japanese titles to the Western market.
"With these titles in the lineup, I think that, although much later than in Japan, the overseas markets are finally ready for Nintendo 3DS to get on an ideal sales track... Currently, the overseas sales of Nintendo 3DS are still at a stage where the changes in the market are starting to emerge. We are aiming to make the momentum of Nintendo 3DS in the overseas markets more visible before summer this year."
While the 3DS has been performing well in Japan, where it is currently the leading platform, Iwata admits that "in the US and Europe, we were unable to create sufficient momentum of the Nintendo 3DS system during the holiday season, and so the situation was not looking good at the beginning of the year." Shrinking market sizes also contributed to the sales slump.
But Iwata believes that Nintendo is on the cusp of a major sales breakthrough with the handheld - it just needs a little bit of a push. And the upcoming lineup the company has prepared aims to offer just that.
"We consider our top priority business task is to achieve our aim of maintaining the momentum of Nintendo 3DS in Japan, which one can say is already on an ideal track, and make it a platform with a larger presence in the overseas markets," the executive said.
"Particularly in the first half of this year, we plan to intensively release key titles into the market so that the Nintendo 3DS business in the overseas markets will gain momentum before the launch of "Animal Crossing: New Leaf" in June."
Noting that a number of third parties are finally feeling ready to support the 3DS, now that things are on the up, Iwata pointed to games such as Shin Megami Tensei IV, Skylanders, Project X Zone, Harvest Moon 3D and Bravely Default as examples where Nintendo will better collaborate with other studios and try its best to bring Japanese titles to the Western market.
"With these titles in the lineup, I think that, although much later than in Japan, the overseas markets are finally ready for Nintendo 3DS to get on an ideal sales track... Currently, the overseas sales of Nintendo 3DS are still at a stage where the changes in the market are starting to emerge. We are aiming to make the momentum of Nintendo 3DS in the overseas markets more visible before summer this year."
Companies:
Nintendo
Read More Like This