Nintendo Financial Results – Nine Months Ended December 31st, 2017 (April 1st – December 31st)
Today, the Nintendo financial results for the Nine Months Ended December 31st, 2017 were revealed, and as expected, they’re pretty good. The company is riding on the success of the Nintendo Switch, with sales significantly up compared to the same period last year. In fact, sales are so good, Nintendo have revised their forecast for the current Fiscal Year once more!
Nintendo Financial Results – Raw Data
Let’s start with some raw data:
- Net Sales (Q1+2+3): 857 012 million Yen (6.357 billion € / 7.879 billion $ / 5.590 billion £), an increase of 175.5% over the same period last year (311 121million Yen, a drop of 26.9% over the same period during the previous Fiscal Year);
- Net sales (Q3): 482 971 million Yen (3.582 billion € / 4.440 billion $ / 3.150 billion £);
- Operating profit (Q1+2+3): 156 462 million Yen (1.160 billion € / 1.438 billion $ / 1.020 million £), an increase of 494.6% over the same period last year (26 315 million Yen loss);
- Operating profit (Q3): 116 501 million Yen (864 million € / 1.071 billion $ / 759 million £);
- Ordinary profit (Q1+2+3): 194 563 million Yen (1.443 billion € / 1.788 billion $ / 1.269 billion £), an increase of 296.2% over the same period last year (49 110 million Yen loss);
- Ordinary profit (Q3): 124 972 million Yen (927 million € / 1.148 billion $ / 815 million £);
- Profit attributable to owners of parent (Q1+2+3): 135 165 million Yen (1.002 billion € / 1.242 billion $ / 881 million £), an increase of 31.3% over the same period last year (102 969 million Yen, an increase of 153.9% over the same period during the previous Fiscal Year)
- Profit attributable to owners of parent (Q3): 83 662 million Yen (620 million Yen € / 769 million $ / 545 million £);
- Digital sales (Q1+2+3): 43.1 billion Yen / 319 million € / 396 million $ / 281 million £ (as opposed to 23.1 billion Yen / 171 million € / 212 million $ / 150 million £ during the same period last year);
- Digital sales (Q3): 20.3 billion Yen / 150 million € / 186 million $ / 132 million £.
The graph below shows the proportion of Software / Hardware / Other (accesories, amiibo) in sales, but also the geographical breakdown of sales. Sales are up in all regions, with most of sales sales made outside Japan (a positive sign, as Europe + North America is a much bigger market than Japan onle). To be precise, sales topped 640 billion Yen outside Japan: that’s 74% of total sales.
The Nintendo Switch once again account for most of sales this quarter (69% of total sales) with the smart devices games making a lot more money (though it’s nowhere near what the dedicated game platforms bring: even the aging Nintendo 3DS alone made Nintendo more money). This particular area account for only 3% of total sales, with about 12 billion Yen in Q3 alone (that’s almost as much as Q1+2, with 17 billion Yen).
Here’s data for Q3 specifically (all data is in million of Yen):
- Dedicated video game platforms (Hardware, Software, Accessories) – Japan: 110 212 / North America: 199 521 / Europe: 129 278 / Other: 32 250 / Total: 471 261
- Nintendo 3DS – Japan: 24 529 / North America: 36 874 / Europe: 27 955 / Other: 3 204 / Total: 92 562
- Nintendo Switch – Japan: 75 437 / North America: 149 892 / Europe: 95 967 / Other: 27 779 / Total: 349 075
- Other (inc. amiibo, Virtual Console) – Japan: 10 247 / North America: 12 755 / Europe: 5 356 / Other: 1 267 / Total: 29 623
- Smart devices, IP – Japan: 4 981 / North America: 4 825 / Europe: 987 / Other: 383 / Total: 11 176
- Playing cards, others – Japan: 205 / North America: 324 / Europe: 6 / Total: 535
- Total – Japan: 108 397 / North America: 204 670 / Europe: 130 271 / Other: 32 633 / Total: 482 971
Nintendo Financial Results – Hardware / Software Sales
- Nintendo 3DS: 5 860 000 units for Q1+2+3 2017-18 / 3 000 000 units for Q3 2017-18 / 71.99 million units since launch;
- Nintendo 3DS (Software): 31.25 million units for Q1+2+3 2017-18 (105 new games launched in all regions*) / 17.43 million units during Q3 2017-18 / 360 million units since launch (1 655 games launched*)
- Nintendo Switch: 12.13 million units for Q1+2+3 2017-18 / 7.24 million units for Q3 2017-18 / 14.86 million units since launch
- Nintendo Switch: 47.10 million units for Q1+2+3 2017-18 (187 games launched in all regions*) / 25.1 million units units for Q3 2017-18 / 52.57 million units since launch (215 games launched)
* games released in more than one region are counted several times (example: 1 game in 3 regions: counted 3 times).
Here’s some details about Nintendo 3DS sales:
- New Nintendo 3DS XL – 11 950 000 (+ 1 630 000 units for Q1+2+3 2017-18, 660 000 units for Q3 2017-18)
- Nintendo 2DS – 9 190 000 (+ 1 030 000 units for Q1+2+3 2017-18, 1 030 000 units for Q3 2017-18)
- New Nintendo 2DS XL — 2.45 million units (+1.31 million units for Q1+2+3 2017-18, 1.31 million units for Q3 2017-18)
Nintendo Financial Results – Nintendo comments
Regarding the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo explains that it kept selling well after its launch, and the holiday season saw a significant increase. Super Mario Odyssey was a massive hit, with no less than 9.07 million units sold. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is also extremely popular, with 7.33 million units sold. Finally, Splatoon sold 4.91 million units. The console already has 8 million-seller for this fiscal year.
Total Software sales: 47.10 million units. Total Hardware sales: 12.13 million units.
Regarding the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo reiterates that the Nintendo Switch launch didn’t have a negative impact on sales. In fact, they actually increased in one region: the United States. In the other regions, sales remained “firm”, with 5.86 million units (only -9% compared to the same period last year).
Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon was one of the best-sellers, with 7.17 million units sold. Unfortunately, this was not nearly enough to prevent a major drop in Software sales: 31.25 million units sold “only”) (-33% Year on Year).
As for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Super NES Classic Edition, it was a real hit, but Nintendo did not provide any data (maybe tomorrow, during the usual meeting with investors). amiibo sales topped about 9.30 million units for figures, and 5 million units for cards.
Downloaded sales are up by 87% year on year, thanks to the Nintendo Switch. Said sales topped 43.1 billion Yen.
Finally, the smart-device business. Nintendo explain that players kept on enjoying Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes, and had fun with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. No details are provided for each game specifically, but the business as whole (mobile + IP) account for 29.1 billion Yen (+172% Year on Year).
Nintendo Financial Results – Forecast
For the upcoming months, Nintendo mentions the following for the Nintendo Switch:
- Bayonetta 2, releasing in February
- Kirby Star Allies, releasing in March
- major titles from third-party publishers
Nintendo plan to broaden the userbase by “continuing to introduce compelling new software”, while maininting steady sales for already-released titles.
For the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo only mention Detective Pikachu, releasing in March. Of course, they plan to take advantage of the large userbase to expand the sales of evergreen titles.
Finally, on smart devices, Nintendo will focus on encouraging players to play the games they’ve already downloaded more.
Due to strong sales for the Nintendo Switch, but also change rate changes, Nintendo has revised its forecast for the current Fiscal Year.
Nintendo Financial Results – New Forecast
Here’s the revised forescast for FY 2017-18:
- Net sales: 1 020 billion Yen (+ 531 billion Yen compared to FY 2016-17, and + 60 million Yen compared to the initial forecast) [163 billion Yen left to meet forecast]
- Operating profit: 160 billion Yen (+ 131 billion Yen compared to FY 2016-17, and + 40 billion Yen compared to the initial forescast) [3.5 billion Yen left to met forecast]
- Ordinary profit: 175 billion Yen (+ 125 billion Yen compared to FY 2016-17, + 50 billion Yen compared to the initial forescast) [already reached forecast]
- Net profit attributable to owners of parent: 120 billion Yen (+18 billion Yen compared to FY 2016-17, +35 billion Yen compared to the initial forecast) [already reached forecast]
As for the Nintendo 3DS, and the Nintendo Switch specifically:
- Nintendo 3DS: 6.40 million units [540 000 left to meet forecast] (+ 400 000 units compared to the previous forecast)
- Nintendo 3DS Software: 35 million units [3.75 million units left to meet forecast] (- 5 million units compared to the previous forecast)
- Nintendo Switch: 15 million units [2.87 million units left to meet forecast] (+1 million units compared to the previous forecast)
- Nintendo Switch Software: 53 million units [5.90 million units left to meet forecast] (+ 3 million units compared to the previous forescast)
