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Nintendo sales drop 40 percent

Published on 30th July 2009 by Joe Martin

Nintendo's net sales have fallen by 40 percent since last year, creating a 66 percent drop in quaterly operation profit.

Nintendo released financial statements for the previous quarter today, revealing that demand for the Wii and DS platforms may finally be starting to slow in the face of the current recession - Nintendo's net sales have fallen by 40 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to Engadget the drop in net sales has created a 66 percent fall in quarterly operating profit, which Nintendo says is mostly due to slowing demand for the Nintendo Wii and the strengthening position of the Yen.

The lull is hardly surprising of course - the Wii and DS have been selling like the hottest of hotcakes for a while now and may finally be reaching saturation point. Take the economic situation into account too and the drop in sales is entirely expected.

What isn't expected is the fact that Nintendo also attributes the drop in DS Lite and DSi sales to "increased competition in the handheld business from Apple's iPhone" - the first time Nintendo has really acknowledged the iPhone as a potential threat to the DS line.

Nintendo is still hopeful that it can perform on-target by the end of the year though - projecting that it'll sell 26 million Wiis and 30 million DS handhelds by the end of the year. Strangely, the DSi seems to be taking off quite well, despite being only a incremental upgrade on the DS Lite in our opinion - check out our DSi review for more details.

Which do you prefer for gaming on the go? A Nintendo DS, Sony PSP or an Apple iPhone? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.

9 Comments

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V3ctor 30th July 2009, 12:29

Yeah... blame it on the devil's phone...

lewchenko 30th July 2009, 12:59

About time that Nintendo took a kicking.. they are too reliant on making their older technology last forever (in all their consoles) which is really poor value for the end consumer. About time they had some decent competition. Lets face it ... the technology in the iPhone is many generations ahead of the DS or DSi, and deserves to do well as a result.

RotoSequence 30th July 2009, 13:00

Maybe they should blame it on their complete lack of games that are actually worth buying, let alone playing.

DXR_13KE 30th July 2009, 17:41

The market is saturated and there is an economic crisis happening... what else is new?

perplekks45 30th July 2009, 20:05

The iPod Touch/iPhone is so far ahead I'm surprised Nintendo actually see it. :|

docodine 31st July 2009, 00:39

The iPhone/Touch and the DSi are targeted toward different markets, but there is some small overlap.. I think everyone is overestimating how much Apple has hurt their sales.

I think they don't want to blame their own shortcomings, and would rather blame some other company.

xprodancer 31st July 2009, 02:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by V3ctor
Yeah... blame it on the devil's phone...

Totaly agree!!!! if they wanted a (war) then why didnt they build a better DS instead of just upgrading it to a DSi, but with that said the iphone does a hell of alot more and is still based on the phone market, but as you can play some pretty good games on it now days and have so many app's for it then would it not seem the better choice???? if nintendo made something like the iphone but it not be a fone but you could put hundreds of app's on it then there would be a reverlation! and you could see a war goin on!

LordPyrinc 31st July 2009, 04:21

Sounds like Nintendo is comparing Apples to oraNges. Sure there are phones out there that can run games, but they are not really a substitute for a handheld. Handheld = Gaming + plus some other capabilities... Smart phone = Communication device + plus some other capabilities (minimal gaming included).

I think a terrible global economy is the reason for Nintendo's drop in profits, not crApple or any other smart phone manufacturer.

perplekks45 31st July 2009, 09:12

LordPyrinc: I take it you never played any games on an iPod Touch/iPhone? There is a reason why Apple are marketing these two as gaming devices. :p

But I think you and everyone else is right by saying the global crisis is [partially] to blame for this. If I have less money and have to decide whether to buy food or a games console I'd know what to opt for.