Nintendo has issued a statement predicting the company’s first net annual loss since it began reporting its earnings figures, in 1981. Totalling up to nearly $925 million, the toll was taken by the re-evaluated foreign assets in the face of the appreciating yen, and poor sales of its 3DS consoles, and game titles.
Calling the sales of the DS hardware and 3DS software “weaker than expected,” the company predicted a 20 billion-yen net loss in the area, compared to its ironic projection of a 20 billion-yen profit for the financial year ending in March 2012. Overseas sales are a significant portion of the company’s earnings, and 3DS shipments were low enough to force the company to drop prices of the 3DS console by over 40% in July, despite having sold 8 million units till then.
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The Japanese giant, still the biggest video game company in the world, also announced elsewhere that its upcoming console, the Wii U, would only be showcased in June 2012, at the E3 expo. Obviously needing to avoid another year of what might be a back-breaking loss, Nintendo’s hopes for the new console can’t be understated.
In the meanwhile, Satorui Iwata said the company intends “cutting costs steadily and plan[s] to release major titles seamlessly” to bolster earnings, at the recent press conference in Osaka, Japan.