Nintendo Financials (November 2020): results, Conference Call, Q&A

Nintendo Financials – Results

Nintendo have shared their latest financial results, covering the Six Months Ended September 30th, 2020 (April 1st 2020 to September 30th 2020). You will find all the details on these pages:

• Consolidated Financial Highlights, with consolidated operating results, the updated forecast for the current Fiscal Year, Nintendo comments, sales information (regional breakdown, digital sales), sales data and forecast, and more
• Financial Results Explanatory Material, with lots of additional sales data, list of million-sellers this Fiscal Year, release planning, and more

Also, the following pages have also been updated:

• Dedicated Video Game Sales Unit: Hardware and Software sales for Nintendo consoles
• Top Selling Title Sales Units: Top 10 Software for each platforms:
  • Nintendo Switch [Updated]
  • Nintendo 3DS [Updated]
  • Wii U [Updated]
  • Nintendo DS [Updated]
  • Wii [Updated]

Nintendo Financials – Conference Call

The presentation materials from the Conference Call are now available: you will find them on this page!

Nintendo Financials – Q&A

The official English translation of the Q&A session is now available: you will find it on this page!

Here’s the list of questions:

Question 1: I’d like to hear about how I should compare the results for this period with your revised full-year forecast. How much higher were the results for the first half of this fiscal year relative to the plan? Is there any part of the outlook for the second half of the year that pulled the forecast higher?

Question 2: Compared to the first quarter (April to June), which was affected by COVID-19, do you believe that the demand for Nintendo Switch hardware and software has leveled off in the second quarter (July to September), or that there is still strong demand?

Question 3: I would like to ask about the sales outlook for the third quarter. Do you see stronger momentum in sales, compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year? Based on the current state of sales, what are you expecting for the year-end sales season?

Question 4: It seems like many of the previously released titles that hit the million mark in this six-month period were ones that people can enjoy playing together. Were these games consciously recommended to consumers who played Animal Crossing: New Horizons or is this the result of a natural accumulation of sales? And looking back, what are your thoughts on this situation in the first half of the year?

Question 5: Pokémon UNITE (announced by The Pokémon Company on June 24) is planned to be cross-platform for Nintendo Switch and smart devices. While this was likely decided by The Pokémon Company, I believe that the two companies (Nintendo and The Pokémon Company) have close ties. I’d like to hear Nintendo’s thoughts on cross-platform titles.

Question 6: You discussed how Nintendo Switch is just hitting the mid-point of its life cycle, but do you feel that sales so far this year were driven by a spike in demand due to COVID-19? Or do you think that the overall business can continue to grow steadily in the next fiscal year and beyond?

Question 7: Regional sales in the “Other” region (as shown on page 4 of the Financial Results Explanatory Material) increased significantly, but I’d like to hear about sales trends in these “other” regions individually, like mainland China and Australia.

Question 8: This year, people are staying at home because of COVID-19 and it seems that this has created demand for Nintendo Switch among those who might not otherwise buy the console. What kinds of strategies do you have to keep these new consumers interested in Nintendo Switch and continuing to purchase software next year and beyond?

Question 9: What kind of impact do you think games from other software publishers will have on the Nintendo Switch business going forward? I feel that unit sales of titles by other software publishers have been growing at a faster pace than those of Nintendo titles, so what can you say about the future ratio of titles by Nintendo and other software publishers?

Question 10: Unit sales of Animal Crossing: New Horizons were down a bit in the second quarter compared to the first, but do you expect sales to pick up again during the year-end sales season and to continue to drive good business momentum?