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Forums - Nintendo - Will Nintendo make a smartphone?

 

Will Nintendo ever make a smartphone?

Definitely, within 5 years 21 13.73%
 
Definitely, 5+ years from now 3 1.96%
 
It's possible, but not within 5 years 16 10.46%
 
It's possible within 5 years 33 21.57%
 
Very unlikely 59 38.56%
 
It's impossible, it will never happen 21 13.73%
 
Total:153
MDMAlliance on 18 March 2015
Tachikoma said:
"nintendo wouldnt ever go mobile" is what everyone said, and bam, look where we are, frankly im not going to discount any outcome at this point.


I would say the main difference here is that people against Nintendo going mobile had more to do with philosophy.  The smartphone thing has more to do with this being a huge gamble.  Of course, I'm not saying it's impossible, but highly improbable. 



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Mnementh on 18 March 2015
Lawlight said:
SpokenTruth said:


Need to clarify this for you but Nintendo will not be developing smartphone games.  The deal is that they lend their IP to DeNA who will then develop smartphone games based on those IP.  Nintendo themselves are not making smartphone games now.


Where did you read that?

At the conference itself it was said DeNA is developing the games and uses Nintendo IPs.



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Frogger on 18 March 2015

Nintendo isn't that stupid.



Lawlight on 18 March 2015
Mnementh said:
Lawlight said:


Where did you read that?

At the conference itself it was said DeNA is developing the games and uses Nintendo IPs.

Want to revise your post?



kinisking on 18 March 2015

Maybe. If their home consoles don't work out, why not?



Ltd predictions by the time 9th Gen comes out

Ps4:110million

Xbox one :75 million( was 65) 

Wii u: 20 milliion

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JWeinCom on 18 March 2015

I don't think Nintendo would make a cell phone themselves. They may however partner with another company down the line, HTC or LG or something, to make a phone that is more finely tuned for gaming.



GoldenTriforce on 18 March 2015

No but I would not doubt them making a handheld console that can make phone calls, and texts. But no, they will never make a smartphone .



MDMAlliance on 18 March 2015
JWeinCom said:
I don't think Nintendo would make a cell phone themselves. They may however partner with another company down the line, HTC or LG or something, to make a phone that is more finely tuned for gaming.


Yeah, that would make more sense.  The amount of money involved with doing it themselves would be too much, I think.



anghelcrayz on 18 March 2015
hsrob said:
anghelcrayz said:

Well, in the same principle that Nintendo is in the console market where they obviously do not directly compete with Sony or Microsoft. They may be able to take advantage of a middle-end platform with Nintendo IPs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYCDDVSq_2o

I knew someone would say this :)

The difference with their games consoles though is that they are surviving, even profiting, in a niche that they know and understand very well, and where the competition, costs and complexities of doing business are well understood by them (even if some would argue otherwise)

Certainly, there's nothing to say they have to 'compete' with they big players, they could look for a similiar niche in the smartphone realm but it would still require SIGNIFICANT financial investment and expansion of their business into areas with which they aren't very familiar. Risk is high, competition is intense, they don't know the business that well, margins are low..... 

Conversely, selling software for smart devices requires relatively insignificant changes to their fundamental business. Initial risk is low and the reward is potentially very high.

Nintendo is a versatile company. I'm sure you're familiar with their rich, diverse history. I'm confident they may will adjust perfectly fine. In general, however, I agree with your post anyhow.



Soundwave on 18 March 2015
JWeinCom said:
I don't think Nintendo would make a cell phone themselves. They may however partner with another company down the line, HTC or LG or something, to make a phone that is more finely tuned for gaming.


Something like that might make sense. 

HTC phone. 

Nintendo games pre-loaded onto it. 

Some game controls. 

Sells maybe 11-15 million a year, which is small potatoes for smartphones, but something like that is equal to the amount of 3DS' Nintendo is shipping right now, lol. 

So maybe. I don't see it happening anytime soon, but in 2-3 years? Never say never. The thing is Nintendo doesn't need to make the "phone" part of it, because Android is the phone component of it.