Despite the launch of Mario Kart 8, Nintendo still managed to report a worse than expected quarterly loss. This is mainly due to lagging Wii U and 3DS video game console sales, and it is expected to continue up until or even beyond the holiday season.
However, despite the lag, the Japanese video game console manufacturer and publisher, made $196 million in profits, and $5.8 billion in sales for the quarter. Still, Nintendo suffered a loss of $97.3 million from the period of April-June, compared to the 8.62 billion yen profit a year earlier.
Sales for the quarter totaled 74.695 billion yen, which is an 8 percent decline when compared to last year. With the quick success of the PlayStation 4 and the bouncing back of the Microsoft Xbox One console, Nintendo might have a difficult time breaking even.
For quarter month ending in June, Nintendo managed to sell 510,000 Wii U units, and around 4.4 million games. The games side of the business was bolstered with the release of Mario Kart 8, unfortunately, it wasn't enough.
On the matter of the 3DS, Nintendo sold 820,000 units, and over 8.6 million games. Still, total net profit slipped by 8.6 percent.
Can Nintendo bounce back?
The company made a terrible decision when it failed to deliver any first-party titles for the Wii U months after launch. The console sank in obscurity as gamers shift focus to the more powerful PlayStation 4 and Xbox One video game consoles.
Furthermore, the Wii U and the 3DS have to face-off with new competition in the smartphone and tablet arena. Mobile devices have become popular gaming platforms over the past 5 years, and with every hardware improvement, the gaming experience has improved. Right now it is possible to play games on smartphones and tablets that are graphically superior to the 3DS.
Still, it doesn't mean all is lost for the Mario factory. Nintendo can no longer rely on third-party support for the Wii U as the system is in no way capable of keeping up with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in terms of graphics. What the company must do now is focus more on its first-party and second-party titles, and hope that these games alone are good enough to keep the Wii U in the game for the next 4 to 5 years.
Don't be surprised if, in the next two years, Nintendo may announce a Wii U successor at E3.
