Yakuzaice said:
The past doesn't matter if they are unable to turn their business around. Plenty of companies that were profitable for decades have gone out of business if they couldn't improve their core operations or find new markets. A hundred years of profits doesn't mean they can have a hundred years of losses. Also, again Operating Income is the more pertinent piece of information. They can't rely on Abenomics to increase the value of their foreign holdings when expressed in yen every year. Operating income shows the profitablity of their actual core business. They were still posting operating losses prior to the Wii U launch. It wasn't just two blips for the 3DS and Wii U, the operating losses have been pretty consistent for three fiscal years now. That has also been helped by the yen depreciation. A 3DS sold in December 2011 for $170 actually brought in less yen than a 2DS sold for $130 in December 2013. If the yen were to rise back to 80 per dollar, Nintendo would be posting very poor numbers. With all of that said, I don't expect Nintendo to be going out of business very soon. However, the way people class any criticism of Nintendo as saying they are "doomed" is very disingenuous. It is just used as a tool to deflect criticism, and there is plenty of legitimate criticism to be aimed at Nintendo's business operations right now. |
Yes many mistakes have been made and the next move is crucial. Firstly they need to support the Wii U until the end of its cycle, try and salvage something, keep fans on board and reputation intact. Iwata is brilliant at reading the Japanese market, but must have somebody brought in to help with the western markets. Hopefully the changes Nintendo are planning will point things back in the right direction.
