Nintendo Reports Sales Decline as Amiibo, Wii U Software Interest Drops Off
Nintendo has detailed its financial results for the six-month period spanning April 1 to September 30, 2016, reporting a decline in sales compared to the same period in 2015.
In its latest earnings report, sales were cited as $1.3 billion, which is around a 33 percent decline from 2015's $1.9 billion. Operating income, meanwhile, also decreased, coming in at around $57 million in 2016, which is approximately a 33 percent drop from 2015's $86 million.
Nintendo managed to make a profit by selling the Seattle Mariners baseball team, which it said it "recorded gain on sales of investment securities" totalling . The release of Pokemon Go was said to have "led to increased sales of software in the Pokemon series released in the past and drove the Nintendo 3DS family hardware sales growth, particularly outside of Japan."
Sales of the 3DS for the period were reported as 2.7 million units, which is an increase over the previous year.
In the statement accompanying the report, Nintendo explained that, for the Wii U, there "were no hit titles this period to compare with Splatoon and Super Mario Maker last year," which resulted in the decrease in software sales for the platform.
Sales of the Amiibo were also cited as a slipping owing to a decreased number of games supporting them. Amiibo sales "were reduced to 3.8 million units for figure-type and 1.7 million for card type." Additionally, "fewer offerings of downloadable content during this period" also resulted in much less digital sales than last year.
During this six month period Nintendo sold 560,000 Wii U consoles. In 2015 it managed to sell 1.1 million units.
Looking ahead, Nintendo highlighted the upcoming launch of Pokemon Sun/Moon as well as the 3DS version of Super Mario Maker for 3DS. Other upcoming releases that were mentioned include the NES Classic Edition, which will be available in November, and Super Mario Run, a mobile title launching on iOS later this year.
Although the company's next platform, the Nintendo Switch, was mentioned, it simply said it would be available in March 2017. For lots more on the Nintendo Switch, check out GameSpot's recent coverage in the links below.
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