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: steep decline
Sony has finally retired the Walkman cassette player, citing lackluster demand for the outdated device.
The company says they produced their last batch of the device in Japan in April and once that inventory clears out, the Walkman will be retired to the history books.
A Chinese company will still produce some units after Sony’s supply is exhausted but it is hard to believe they will continue to produce for the foreseeable future.
Sony began selling the Walkman in 1979 and has seen 220 million units sold over the past 31 years.
Walkman sales have been in steep decline since the introduction of portable CD players and even more so with the launch of portable MP3 players earlier this ddecade.
Sony will continue to use the “Walkman” brand, however, in phones and media players.
Result for: steep decline
The New York Times is citing sources familiar with plans to bring about an “iTunes for magazines”; an online newsstand to be developed by Time Inc., Condo Nast and Heasrt. According to the “people with knowledge of the plans,” the new venture may be announced in early December. The move is being made to counter continually declining print circulation for U.S. magazines.
The website would reportedly offer consumers the chance to buy print or electronic copies of their magazines. It would also develop software standards for viewing the content on iPhones, Blackberrys, eBook readers and other devices. According to the New York Observer, John Squires, a Time executive, would be the chief executive officer of the new online venture.
“The consortium provides one point of contact for the consumer,” the Observer quoted an unidentified source as saying. “When you come to the main store, you can get the content any way you want.” U.S. newspaper and magazine publishers have witnessed a steep decline in print advertising revenue as more of their readers turn to free content on the Internet to get their news.
Time Inc. alone is carrying out largescale layoffs after it had to let 600 staff go just last year. It publishers several popular magazines including Time, Fortune, Sports Illustrated and People.
