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. 2 have 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.