Nintendo Reports A Profit In Q3 Financial Results As Wii U Sales Remain Steady

Nintendo has published its earnings for the third quarter of the financial year today and has reported a positive boost in profit. In the nine months between April 1 and December 31, the company saw a substantial boost in its operating income – otherwise known as the nuts and bolts of the business – and reached 31.6 billion Yen ($267.4 million / €245.6 million / £176.3 million), a healthy profit in comparison to Q2’s earnings which saw losses of 215 million Yen.

Due to a continuously weakened Yen, Nintendo’s overall net profit during these nine months escalated, particularly in comparison to its 14.3 billion Yen profit during Q2 earnings, and recorded 59.5 billion Yen ($503.7 million / €444 million / £332.1 million). Here, the gaming giant has essentially quadrupled its net profit earnings within the three months from October to December 2014.

In terms of hardware sales for the Wii U, the console remains steady and on target to reach its estimated sales projection of 3.6 million units this financial year. Though the console hasn’t had the easiest of runs, the Wii U currently stands at 3.03 million units – with 1.91 million units sold between October 1 and December 31. According to the report most of the console’s sales came from North America and European regions, while the Japanese gaming market floundered heavily. Life-to-date figures for the Wii U now reach 9.2 million units.

Sales for the 3DS, however, are not as light and breezy. In Nintendo’s second quarterly report, the handheld console had decreased in sales despite its “extremely strong” records for Super Smash Bros. for 3DS. Between April 1 and December 31, the 3DS sold 7.08 million units, over half of which came from sales over the holiday season. Nintendo, in light of this hardware decrease, has revised the original 12 million unit forecast down to 9 million units for the 2014 – 15 financial year.

Going forward then, Nintendo has increased the software sales for Wii U by 5 million units, projecting 25 million units as of today. Currently software sales stand at 20.59 million units and are sustained largely by big-hitting titles such as Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros for Wii U. On the other hand, software sales for the 3DS total 53.04 million units over nine months. The company’s estimated sales projection for software, much like its hardware, has been revised from 67 to 61 million units.

Let us know your thoughts on Nintendo’s Q3 financial report in the comments below. And providing you’ve had enough time to digest the information above, you can also view a snippet of Nintendo’s report below.

During the nine months ended December 31, 2014, for “Nintendo 3DS,” “New Nintendo 3DS/New Nintendo 3DS XL,” launched as the newest members of the “Nintendo 3DS” family in Japan in October, got off to a good start and continued to sell well. However, as sales of the “Nintendo 3DS” hardware in the United States and in Europe, where “New Nintendo 3DS/New Nintendo 3DS XL” were yet to be launched, did not grow sufficiently, the global sales of the “Nintendo 3DS” family hardware were 7.08 million units.

As for the “Nintendo 3DS” software, “Pokémon Omega Ruby/Pokémon Alpha Sapphire” and “Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS” enjoyed robust sales with 9.35 million units and 6.19 million units sold respectively, while titles such as “Tomodachi Life,” “Mario Kart 7” and “Pokémon X/Pokémon Y” showed steady sales. There were also a number of hit titles from third-party publishers in the Japanese market. As a result, the global sales of the “Nintendo 3DS” software were 53.04 million units.

With respect to “Wii U,” Nintendo released two big titles, “Mario Kart 8”and “Super Smash Bros. for Wii U,” which enable family members and friends to have fun together in their living rooms. These titles sold 4.77 million units and 3.39 million units globally, and the global sales of the “Wii U” hardware and software reached 3.03 million and 20.59 million units respectively.