Investor Meeting Q&A: Iwata on dedicated platforms, New 3DS launch and more
During a Q&A session (from the Feb. 17 Investor Meeting), Satoru Iwata once again confirmed that Nintendo isn’t going to leave the dedicated gaming platforms business anytime soon. Of course, the Nintendo 3DS is almost 4 years old, and sales are definitely going to drop year on year from now (though the New Nintendo 3DS will slow down that drop); as for the Wii U, even though there’s definitely potential for growth in the West, it is extremely unlikely that sales are going to increase dramatically in the future.
Iwata then reminds us that it doesn’t necessarily mean everything’s over for the 3DS, just like it wasn’t over for the GameBoy when Pokémon came out and allowed the handheld to have one of its better years ever (sales-wise). But will the 3DS have its own Pokémon ? There is Youkai Watch in Japan, but its impact on handheld sales is pretty limited compared to Pokémon’s back in the days.
Of course, Satoru Iwata is perfectly aware that some things need to change no matter what: for example, Nintendo is planning to proactively use mobile platforms in order to boost awareness of its franchises. It’s the same with characters IP, which are going to be used much more in the future (unfortunately, Satoru Iwata didn’t confirm or deny the rumours about the Zelda TV series from Netflix). But Nintendo’s president doesn’t want anyone to misunderstand him: this strategy isn’t a sign that the dedicated gaming platforms business isn’t enough anymore.
The true aim of that strategy is to create a synergy effect in order to expand said business, not to replace or compensate for it. In fact, Nintendo is already making profits on their character IPs, and amiibo have already had a positive impact. The company will then have to find ways to boost the sales of its core business (which isn’t going to change anytime soon), and the New Nintendo 3DS is one way to do so.
Before it was launched in the West, many people doubted the New Nintendo 3DS would be able to boost sales, but the reality is quite different: the western launch was a real success, with the two new models selling out within a few days (even before launch for the limited edition bundles). Unfortunately for Nintendo, the ongoing labor disputes impacting the West Coast ports in the United States are also impacting shipments of Nintendo products (consoles and amiibo primarily, as games can be shipped via planes), and the company isn’t able to ship as many units and necessary. Despite those troubles, the North America launch was really successful, which means that the usual sales pattern late in generation may not apply for the 3DS this time around.
Finally, Satoru Iwata reiterates that the QoL business will only start contributing to Nintendo’s profits during the next fiscal year (April 2016 – March 2017). And he warns shareholders: QoL won’t account for half of Nintendo’s profits right off the bat. After all, Nintendo’s core business has been video games for a long time now, and that fact isn’t going to change anytime soon; it would therefore be quite premature to expect QoL to get that big so quickly. Nintendo’s aim for the next fiscal year will be to strengthen its video game business, while developping the QoL business on the side.
Source: Nintendo
