In a surprise swing away from last year's loss of 9.9bn yen, Nintendo has announced a healthy and unexpected profit...
NewsNintendo was expected to improve on the 9.9bn yen loss it announced this time last year, but most analysts failed to predict such a dramatic swing. Announcing its first-quarter financial results, Nintendo has revealed that it's made a net profit of 8.28bn yen (that's $67m, according to the BBC).
In its accompanying statement, Nintendo cites the success of its amiibo line of toys and such games as Puzzles & Dragonsand Splatoonas factors in its reversal of fortune. According to its figures, the 3DS bundle of Puzzles & Dragons Zand Puzzles & Dragons Super Mario Bros Edition sold a total of 7.92m copies worldwide. The Wii U shooter Splatoon sold 1.62m copies - not bad, given the Wii U's small install base and its status as a new property in Nintendo's line-up.
In terms of hardware sales, the Wii U continues to move slowly, with its 0.47m units a slight drop on last year's 0.51m. But 3DS sales are up slightly, with 1.01m units sold versus last year's 0.82m.
Nevertheless, Nintendo's profits have run counter to most analysts' predictions, which had widely assumed that the company would make a further (albeit smaller) loss of 6.3bn yen.
Nintendo faces some potentially testing times over the next few months, as it finds a new CEO following the sad passing of Satoru Iwata this month, rolls out its new foray into mobile games, and paves the way for its NX console. In its forecast for the coming year, Nintendo's stated that it will continue to expand its amiibo range, while forthcoming games like Star Fox Zero and Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeonwill hold up the software side of things.
