For the six fiscal months ended September 30th, 2010, Nintendo saw its first semi-annual loss in seven years, thanks mostly to a steep decline in DS handheld sales.
Year-over-year, DS sales (which include DS Lite, DSi and DSi XL) dropped to 6.69 million worldwide, from 11.7 million in the same period last year.
The drop in sales makes sense though, given that the market has been very close to saturation for some time. Additionally, the Nintendo 3DS is set for launch early next year, so consumers appear to be bidding their time and waiting on the new, updated handheld.
Helping contribute to Nintendo’s falling bottom line was Wii sales, which fell from 5.75 million to 4.97 million in the same time periods.
With falling console sales came falling software sales, as well.
The Yen has made significant gains against the US Dollar in the past two years, leaving Nintendo’s net income down 34 percent.
Result for: handheld sales
Fans of the Sony PSP handheld have likely been disappointed by the lack of new innovation with the system over the past few years, including the flop that is the PSPGo.
If VG247 is correct, however, the still unofficial PSP2 sequel should have some pretty exciting specs, and will hopefully boost Sony’s lagging handheld sales.
The site, citing British sources, says the console will not be revealed at the upcoming E3 event, but it will be launched this year, with a 2011 release date.
The handheld has a touch-screen, but will keep physical buttons as well. It has two cameras, one forward-facing for video conferencing and the other, as standard, on the back.
Sources add the console could be Wi-Fi and 3G supportive, which would be a first for the handheld series. UMD will likely be removed totally, just like on the PSPGo.
Perhaps more importantly, the processor is “f***ing powerful” and will use a four-core Cell CPU.
Result for: handheld sales
Sony’s gaming division, dubbed the PlayStation Division, was hit hard for the quarter ended December 31st, 2008, with operating revenue down over 30 percent year-on-year to $4.32 billion USD.
In a hardware sales comparison, PS3 sales were 4.46 million, down 44,000 units, and PSP handheld sales were down 68,000 units to 5.08 million units. The PS2 saw the hardest hit, understandably, with sales dropping over 60 percent to 2.52 million.
The company blamed the global recession for the decline in hardware and software sales and also noted that the Yen’s appreciation against the Euro played a role as well.
Some good news did slip through however, as Sony noted that PS3 software sales were up significantly year-on-year from 26 million to 41 million units.
