Gill Critchley asked:


Nintendo have seen their profits soar by 34 per cent in just the first half of this year and the Japanese company hope that their “cheap and cheerful” DS and Wii consoles will prove to be the most popular toys this Christmas. The company did see an improvement in their sales during April and September but Nintendo was forced to guide their sales target expectations lower. They found that their forecasts for the full year took a 3 per cent drop as the Japanese market prepares itself for a global recession. Nintendo have found that they have been hit hard by the yen’s recent surge against the US dollar and the euro as these are the two currencies that matter to Nintendo’s bottom line. However, with the company seeing big increases in its profits, managing to sell more DS consoles than the PSP and the company having the safety net of huge reserves of yen to issue out when things get tight, they should be able to survive most cash flow problems that are thrown at them. The profit increases will be greeted very happily at Nintendo as their shares have dropped quite heavily in recent times. For two years running they have been one of the most successful Japanese companies and the analysts that have supported them predict that the lifestyle-orientated products such as the Wii Fit and the “brain training” software will not follow the trend of most games and lose popularity, but instead will continue to sell strongly months and even years after their launch. However, there are others that say that sales of the Nintendo DS have been slowing in Europe and that they won’t see the usual Christmas boom. Then again there are some experts who say that Nintendo won’t have a problem with sales at Christmas as what usually happens at times like these are toy sales increase as other luxuries like holidays have had to be cut in order for people to save money.

Nintendo have been seeing big increases in its profits and have managed to sell more DS consoles than the PSP . Analysts have predicted that the lifestyle-orientated products such as the Wii Fit and the “brain training” software will retain its popularity. However, there are others that say that sales of the Nintendo DS have been slowing in Europe and that they won’t be seeing the usual Christmas boom this year.



Wii Fitness Video Game