Nintendo Returns To Profitability But Misses Forecast By 50%

Nintendo have missed their profit forecast by about 50%, owing to weaker-than-expected sales outside Japan. While titles like Paper Mario: Sticker Star and New Super Mario Bros. 2have been successful, they “did not generate sufficient sales momentum” in overseas markets, along with games like Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7.

Meanwhile, Wii U games New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land have sold 2.15 million and 2.6 million units respectively, but global Wii U sales are at a mere 3.45 million units, owing to delays in a number of software titles that Nintendo had planned for the device’s launch window.

While global Wii U sales are 3.45 million units, global Nintendo 3DS sales are at 31.09 million units. However, both devices missed their sales targets of 4 million and 15 million for the last fiscal year. As a result, while Nintendo are now back to being profitable, their full-year profits were a mere 7.1 billion yen ($71.4 million)—half of their forecast of 14 billion yen ($140.7 million).

For the ongoing fiscal year, Nintendo have plans to return to “Nintendo-like” profits and are undertaking a number of initiatives that they have previously outlined, including releasing a steady stream of games for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, and helping third-party publishers in Japan bring their 3DS games overseas. The company touched upon several of these titles during a Nintendo Direct presentation last week.

Nintendo also plan to promote download sales of their retail software in order to improve profitability. The company plans to sell 9 million Wii U consoles and 18 million Nintendo 3DS portables during the ongoing fiscal year.