Nintendo is making money. Lots and lots of money

[Andrew Mallon]

Nintendo's profits more than triple, whilst Sony slashes PSP shipments by 25%.

TOKYO, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Nintendo Co. Ltd. (7974.OS: Quote, NEWS, Research) said on Thursday its profit more than trebled in the fiscal first half, buoyed by its hot-selling DS handheld game gear, and it stood by its annual outlook for 60 percent profit growth.

Nintendo, which competes with Sony Corp. (6758.T: Quote, NEWS, Research) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) in the near-$30 billion video game industry, scored a smash hit in attracting game novices by offering casual and easy-to-play games on the DS, which allows players to give commands using a stylus instead of a key pad.

In contrast, Sony last week cut its shipment target for rival PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld game machine by 3 million units to 9 million.

Link

[Kobra]

Why does every thread about any other console, always contain bashing of Sony? 

[Ridah]

You really gotta give it to Nintendo, they sure know how to turn a profit.

[Andrew Mallon]

Why does every thread about any other console, always contain bashing of Sony? 

Who's bashing Sony?

[Kobra]

I guess the artcle was, I was expecting to read about nintendo, not Sony nonsense on the first line.  Seems like nobody can talk about Nintendo, without throwing out BS about Sony.  Mainstream press included apparently. 

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

Why does every thread about any other console, always contain bashing of Sony? 

Well, in this case it's because the PSP attempted to challenge Nintendo's stranglehold on the handheld market and, apparently, failed.

[The Grue]

Why does every thread about any other console, always contain bashing of Sony? 

Well, in this case it's because the PSP attempted to challenge Nintendo's stranglehold on the handheld market and, apparently, failed.

Plus, everyone loves an underdog.  Especially one that makes money.

[Jancelot]

Hmm, I thought the article was pretty straight-forward with just quoting market numbers.  What specifically was BS?  I felt mentioning the market performance of the only rival in the handheld market was viable in an article about market performance, no?

[denoginizer]

Does anyone have PSP vs DS numbers for North America only? 

[Tebunker]

there is a website that has been compiling them, I'll do some research, it was from someone at GAF. It was pretty spot on. The PSP and DS were even right before the DS Lite came out and it's been lopsided since then, with the DS Lite outselling the PSP at a roughly 3.5 to 1 clip. I'll try and get you that site though.

[Big Jake]

Why does every thread about any other console, always contain bashing of Sony? 

Well, in this case it's because the PSP attempted to challenge Nintendo's stranglehold on the handheld market and, apparently, failed.

By this rationale, wasn't the Xbox a failure?

[wonderpug]

Why does every thread about any other console, always contain bashing of Sony? 

Well, in this case it's because the PSP attempted to challenge Nintendo's stranglehold on the handheld market and, apparently, failed.

By this rationale, wasn't the Xbox a failure?

Good question.

To Date (from Wikipedia):
PS2 - 111 million sold
Xbox - 24 million sold
Gamecube - 21 million sold

Last September:
PS2 - 306,000 sold
360 - 259,000 sold
Gamecube - 42,000 sold
Xbox - 6,500 sold

People have called the Gamecube a failure, but it seems to have sold comparably to the Xbox, and is greatly outselling the Xbox today.  Sure, a big part of that is because the 360 is available, but the Cube is still selling and the PS2 is outselling the 360 even though the Wii and PS3 are about to come out.

At first glance numbers wise, it would seem to me that the PSP is doing better vs. the DS than the Xbox did vs. the PS2.

It boggles my mind how many PS2s are still being sold.

Is there any good source to find clear statistics on sales (not units shipped) split between the EU, Japan, and North America?

[Canuck]

Holy crap the PS2 is outselling the Xbox 360?  I guess that makes sense what with all the great games coming out for the PS2 lately.

[denoginizer]

Holy crap the PS2 is outselling the Xbox 360?  I guess that makes sense what with all the great games coming out for the PS2 lately.

The thing to remember is that Microsoft basically doesn't exist in Japan though.  It would not surprise me if the PS2 outsold the 360 by 3-1 in Japan for September.

[Devil]

It pays nicely to have the 3rd best console and second best handheld!!

 

[Kevin Grey]

Holy crap the PS2 is outselling the Xbox 360?  I guess that makes sense what with all the great games coming out for the PS2 lately.

The thing to remember is that Microsoft basically doesn't exist in Japan though.  It would not surprise me if the PS2 outsold the 360 by 3-1 in Japan for September.

Quoted sales are for North America only.  PS2 probably outsells the 360 closer to 10-1 in Japan. 

[metallicorphan]

latest gamesmaster mag here in the UK have the japanese and american all formats charts...in america WOW is number 1 (PC)..and the rest are ps2 and 360 titles........the japanese top 10....are all DS!!!!

[HankRaptor]

That PSP is a damn fine machine driven by a rudderless boat. Sony has NO CLUE as to how to drive sales. They release it and expect everyone else to make the killer games for it. Whereas Nintendo doesnt care if no one else releases a game and makes quality.

That said, the PSP is FAR from a failure. It would have been unrealistic to assume that you could beat Nintendo in the first round. Thats silly. If they dont make a PSP2 and fix some of the errors (dual analog please, foldable case to make it truly portable) we all lose. NO ONE has even come close to taking nintendo's handheld pie and frankly if the PSP has 25% of the handheld market to 75% DS thats a win... no one has taken and real numbers from nintendo's handheld market.

[Canuck]

These two headlines just happened to be in the business section of my Yomiuri Shimbun today: (they aren't verbatim because I threw out the paper)

Nintendo's profit soars 48%

Sony profits down 90%

Apparently that little battery fiasco is going to cost them a small hit of 55 billion yen.

[Misguided]

That PSP is a damn fine machine driven by a rudderless boat. Sony has NO CLUE as to how to drive sales. They release it and expect everyone else to make the killer games for it. Whereas Nintendo doesnt care if no one else releases a game and makes quality.

That said, the PSP is FAR from a failure. It would have been unrealistic to assume that you could beat Nintendo in the first round. Thats silly. If they dont make a PSP2 and fix some of the errors (dual analog please, foldable case to make it truly portable) we all lose. NO ONE has even come close to taking nintendo's handheld pie and frankly if the PSP has 25% of the handheld market to 75% DS thats a win... no one has taken and real numbers from nintendo's handheld market.

QFT! I keep making this same argument. PSP doesn't have to be number 1 to be considered a success, IMO. Same goes for Xbox/360.

[Creepy_Smell]

I dont care who is #1. All I want is competition so that systems and games dont stagnate. Prices also seem to drop quicker when there is more competition.

I have a DS but wouldn't mind having a PSP too. I can't wait to see the next gen handhelds that Nintendo, Sony, and maybe even MS will release.

[Kevin Grey]

That PSP is a damn fine machine driven by a rudderless boat. Sony has NO CLUE as to how to drive sales. They release it and expect everyone else to make the killer games for it. Whereas Nintendo doesnt care if no one else releases a game and makes quality.

Not sure I can agree with that.  I think Sony has done a great job with their first/second party stuff on the PSP.  Indeed, many of the best games on the platform, as well as those that seem most technically proficient, are Sony published. 

[Irongut]

I am pretty impartial to all 3 companies.  I have a PSP, PS2, Gamecube, XBOX1 and XBOX360.  I love the PS2 for its exclusive - Japanese titles.  XBOX1 is still my favorite, and if I could get my 360 working again, I love its features and connected-ness via Live.  The 360 controller is just awesome.

I like hearing this news though.  So often, consoles are positioned as a loss-management business, especially around launch years.  The success of a console from a gamer perspective gets into comparison of how many systems a particular manufacturer has sold etc.  I dont believe Microsoft ever really turned a significant profit with XBOX1, it was all a big investment.  Microsoft and Sony once again have enough cash in the coffers that they can actually lose money to strategically go after market share with the next gen.

I think a lot of us look at nintendo these days as an underdog.  I dont know if thats really a fair assessment.  They are a business that actually turns a profit on each system sold, though they dont have the largest market penetration.  Just seems to show you dont have to be the biggest on the block, just need to manage your business and your product lines well.

[Misguided]

I think a lot of us look at nintendo these days as an underdog.  I dont know if thats really a fair assessment.  They are a business that actually turns a profit on each system sold, though they dont have the largest market penetration.  Just seems to show you dont have to be the biggest on the block, just need to manage your business and your product lines well.

They remind me a lot of Apple Computer.

[Kevin Grey]

I dont believe Microsoft ever really turned a significant profit with XBOX1, it was all a big investment. 

The words profit and Xbox 1 should never even go together.  They lost $4 billion on the thing!