| RolStoppable said: On the other hand, Nintendo has lost about $1.2 billion like you say, but one of those years precedes the Wii U. That's on the 3DS and its major price cut not too long after it had launched. Nintendo also erected a new building in Kyoto during that timespan which factors into their balance sheet, so the losses that the 3DS and Wii U accumulated actually aren't as big as it seems at a first glance. Nintendo didn't aggressively cut the price of the Wii U, so the road back to overall profitability for the system isn't that long; but given how low its hardware sales are and will be, Nintendo won't make much from it. |
Buildings and such are a capital expense and not counted in operating income/loss.
In terms of capital expenses and gains, Nintendo has been profitable in this time, in other words their interest on their money and other investments, exchange rates, etc. has contributed to earnings.
It's their business "operations" (3DS, Wii U, merchandise, etc. development & sales) which has been lossy in this time, and this at the same time that Wii and DS were still contributing to sales as well.
