By Paul Hayes
TOKYO, JAPAN: Competition from other electrical suppliers has seen Nintendo report downbeat financial figures in the year to 31 Marc 2010, with the Japanese giant yesterday forecasting smaller profits as sales slow.
Sales for the company’s Wii gaming console, which is in direct competition with consoles such as Sony’s PlayStation3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360, have slowed considerably, even after Nintendo recently cut their price in response to industry competition.
“This fiscal year, business performance was negatively impacted by a price reduction on Wii hardware, fewer strong Wii software titles in the first half,” said a Nintendo spokesperson.
According to reports, Nintendo sold 20.5 million Wii consoles worldwide in the year, which is down from 26 million the previous year.
The company has forecast another drop next year, with a prediction of 18 million Wii sales in the year to March 2011.
Nintendo announced its profit fell 18.1 percent to around US$2.45 billion in the year to March.
In a further push for its own gaming console, Sony this week announced a major promotion which will see the company give away 45,000 PlayStation3s between now and the end of the FIFA World Cup.