Nintendo Financial Results – Six Months Ended September 30, 2017 (April 1st – September 30th)
Today, the Nintendo financial results for the Six Months Ended September 30, 2017 were revealed, and 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 has revised its forecast for the current Fiscal Year!
Nintendo Financial Results – Raw Data
Let’s start with some raw data:
- Net Sales (H1): 374 041 million Yen (2.834 billion € / 3.289 billion $ / 2.506 billion £), an increase of 173.4% over the same period last year (136 812 million Yen, a drop of 33% over the same period during the previous Fiscal Year);
- Net sales (Q2): 219 972 million Yen (1.666 billion € / 1.934 billion $ / 1.473 billion £);
- Operating profit (H1): 39 961 million Yen (302 million € / 351 million $ / 267 million £), an increase of ???% over the same period last year (5 947 million Yen loss);
- Operating profit (Q2): 23 753 million Yen (179 million € / 208 million $ / 159 million £);
- Ordinary profit (H1): 69 591 million Yen (527 million € / 612 million $ / 466 million £), an increase of ???% over the same period last year (30 883 million Yen loss);
- Ordinary profit (Q2): 38 631 million Yen (292 million € / 339 million $ / 258 billion £);
- Profit attributable to owners of parent (H1): 51 503 million Yen (390 million € / 452 million $ / 345 million £), an increase of 34.5% over the same period last year (28 299 million Yen, an increase of 234% over the same period during the previous Fiscal Year)
- Profit attributable to owners of parent (Q2): 30 243 million Yen (229 million Yen € / 266 million $ / 202 million £);
- Digital sales (H1): 22.8 billion Yen (as opposed to 14.7 billion Yen during the same period last year);
The graph 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 272.3 billion Yen outside Japan: that’s 72.8% of total sales.
The Nintendo Switch once again account for most of sales this quarter, 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).
Nintendo Financial Results – Hardware / Software Sales
- Nintendo 3DS: 2 860 000 units for H1 2017-18 / 1 910 000 units for Q2 2017-18 / 68.98 million units since launch;
- Nintendo 3DS (Software): 13.82 million units for H1 2017-18 (59 new games launched in all regions*) / 7.97 million units during Q2 2017-18 / 343 million units since launch (1 609 games launched)
- Nintendo Switch: 4.89 million units for H1 2017-18 / 2.92 million units for Q2 2017-18 / 7.63 million units since launch
- Nintendo Switch: 22 million units for H1 2017-18 (86 games launched in all regions*) / 13 880 000 units for Q2 2017-18 / 27.48 million units since launch
* 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 – 11 290 000 (+ 970 000 units for H1 2017-18, 360 000 units for Q2 2017-18)
- Nintendo 2DS – 8 160 000 (+ 740 000 units for H1 2017-18, 430 000 units for Q2 2017-18)
- New Nintendo 2DS XL — 1.14 million units (+1.14 million units for H1 2017-18, 1.12 million units for Q2 2017-18)
Nintendo Financial Results – Nintendo comments
During the first half of the current Fiscal Year, Nintendo released Splatoon 2, which was a hit globally with 3.61 million units worldwide. As for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and ARMS, they keep selling “well after their release in April and June”. Overall, the Nintendo Switch sold 4.89 million units, and its games sold 22.02 million units.
On the Nintendo 3DS front, the release of the New Nintendo 2DS XL had a positive impact on sales, which are actually up Year on Year: 2.86 million units (+5%). Unfortunately, it’s a different story when it comes to Software, despite “firm sales” for Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia and Metroid: Samus Returns.
Software sales topped 13.82 million units, which is a 28% decrease on a Year on Year basis. While not mentioned by Nintendo, it does look like the main reason behind the drop is the “Pokémon GO Mania” that took over Europe and North America last year, leading to significant increase in sales for Pokémon games. There was no such boost this year.
Nintendo then mentions a “good start” for the Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Nintendo Entertainment System, but does not provide any sales data. As for amiibo, Nintendo sold 5.10 million figurines, and 2.80 million cards. Download sales are on the rise, thanks to Nintendo Switch games, and topped 22.8 billion Yen (+55% year on year).
On smart devices, Nintendo mentions that “many consumers are continuing to enjoy” Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes, which were both released during the previous Fiscal Year. As a result, the smart device and IP related income reached 17.9 billion Yen (+426% year on year… talk about an explosive increase!).
Nintendo Financial Results – Forecast
For the upcoming months, Nintendo mentions the following for the Nintendo Switch:
- the launch of Super Mario Odyssey in October (actually, that was last week!)
- the launch of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in December
- the launch of several major titles from Nintendo and 3rd-party publishers
For the Nintendo 3DS, we have:
- the launch of new colours and special designs (such as the one for Pokémon)
- the launch of new games, including Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon in November
On the smart devices front, we have just Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, launching in late November worldwide.
Due to strong sales for the Nintendo Switch, 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: 960 billion Yen (+ 470 billion Yen compared to FY 2016-17, and +210 000 compared to the initial forecast) [585 billion Yen left to meet forecast]
- Operating profit: 120 billion Yen (+90 billion Yen compared to FY 2016-17, and +55 billion Yen compared to the initial forescast) [80 billion Yen left to met forecast]
- Ordinary profit: 125 billion Yen (+75 billion Yen compared to FY 2016-17, +65 billion Yen compared to the initial forescast) [55 billion Yen left to meet forecast]
- Net profit attributable to owners of parent: 85 billion Yen (-18 billion Yen compared to FY 2016-17, +40 billion Yen compared to the initial forecast) [33 billion Yen left to meet forecast]
As for the Nintendo 3DS, and the Nintendo Switch specifically:
- Nintendo 3DS: 6 million units [3.14 million units left to meet forecast] (unchanged)
- Nintendo 3DS Software: 40 million units [26.18 million units left to meet forecast] (unchanged)
- Nintendo Switch: 14 million units [9.11 million units left to meet forecast] (+4 million units compared to the initial forecast)
- Nintendo Switch Software: 50 million units [28 million units left to meet forecast] (+ 15 million units compared to the initial forescast)
