NINTENDO, MAKER of the hit Wii game console, said yesterday that fourth-quarter profit jumped 60 per cent, but it forecast modest annual growth of 9 per cent as it expects sales of its DS hand-held machine to slow.
The conservative projection comes despite seemingly insatiable demand for the Wii, which has so far outsold Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 since its launch in late 2006.
Starting with the DS, and then the Wii, which has attracted new casual gamers with quirky but easy-to-learn games and its motion-sensing controllers, Kyoto-based Nintendo has more than doubled its operating profit for two consecutive years.
Expecting too much spectacular growth is unrealistic, said KBC Securities analyst Hiroshi Kamide. "They are on top of their game. I don't think they can do much more than they are at the moment," he added.
Operating profit for the January-March quarter surged to 93.2 billion yen ($913 million), handily beating expectations. But Nintendo, valued at around $81 billion, expects profit to climb to 530 billion yen this business year, 6 per cent below the average analyst estimate of 566.5 billion yen.
Nintendo's wildly popular Super Smash Bros Brawl fighting game and the imminent launch outside Japan of the Wii Fit home fitness programme are expected to drive sales.
Nintendo said revenue should increase 8 per cent to 1.8 trillion yen and forecast global Wii sales would increase 34 per cent to 25 million units this business year, while targeting a 48 per cent jump in software sales to 177 million units. It also may ramp up Wii monthly production by a third to 2.4 million units.
But it said sales of its DS hand-held player would likely fall to about 28 million units from 30.3 million. - (Reuters)
