We’re not here to start a console war among fans of various consoles. Each console manufacturer provides some great gaming content and platforms, with some being more successful than others. That being said, 2013 wasn’t a great year for Nintendo, at least not financially. While the 3DS has been selling well enough, the Wii U hasn’t had the same amount of success. Back in October 2013, Nintendo officials themselves admitted that the Wii U was “negatively impacting” the profits of the company, with only 3.91 million units sold up until the 30th of September 2013 (a number that is below Nintendo’s forecast and expectations).
The costs of advertising, combined with the efforts to reduce the Wii U price in Europe and the United States took a toll on Nintendo’s profits and share values. Given the context, the recent announcement that China would be lifting it’s 14 year long ban on foreign consoles came as a much needed breath of fresh air for the Japanese company. Following this recent change of events, Nintendo’s shares have risen by 6%, and are estimated to keep rising for the next few days. This marks a 2 year high number for Nintendo, and shares in the company were the 9th most traded this week in Japan.
And while we’re talking about the Japanese stock-market, it’s worth mentioning that Sony saw a small drop during the same time period, with a 0.3% slip. This is not necessarily a reflection of the sale performance of the Playstation 4 (which, according to yesterday’s announcement, sold over 4.2 million units since launch), but rather a general forecast of how the company is doing, given that Sony is more than just a console manufacturer.
All-in-all, we’re glad to see Nintendo catch this break. The competition in China will be stiff, without a doubt, since the console ban lift opened up the market for Microsoft and Sony as well. Still, we’re hoping Nintendo will manage to take advantage of the situation and get back into the proverbial saddle. Based on the roster of games coming up for their consoles, we definitely believe this is achievable.
Source: Reuters