Skip to main content
BBC NEWS / BUSINESS
Graphics VersionBBC Sport Home
News Front Page | Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia | UK | Business | Health | Science & Environment | Technology | Entertainment | Also in the news | Have Your Say |
Business Contents:  Your Money | Economy Companies

Thursday, 26 April 2007, 08:21 GMT 09:21 UK

Wii and DS boost Nintendo profits

Screenshot from Wii Sports Massive demand for Nintendo's Wii games machine and soaring sales of its DS console have brought record profits for the Japanese firm.

Its net profits grew 77.2% to 174.3bn yen (£731m; $1.4bn) in the year to 31 March, while sales surged 90%.

Nintendo had been struggling against rivals Sony and Microsoft until its new innovations revitalised its business.

It said it sold 23.56 million handheld DS consoles, and was hoping to sell a similar number this year.

The Kyoto-based firm added it aimed to sell 14 million Wii consoles in 2007/8, up from 5.84 million in the year to March.

Competition

The improvement in profits comes as little surprise given the success of its latest products.

"The video game industry is now on a growth path"
Nintendo

And its share price has almost doubled in the past year as investors were impressed by its turnaround.

The DS console, which allows users to control play with a stylus, has proved popular with women and older users.

Meanwhile the motion sensitive Wii has proved popular after introducing a new way of playing computer games.

The Wii is competing against Sony's Playstation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360.

"The video game industry is now on a growth path," Nintendo said.

Nintendo games are best known for characters such as Mario, Pokemon and Donkey Kong.

However, games aimed at older players, such as Brain Training for Adults, have also proved particularly popular.



E-mail this to a friend
Related to this story:
Games industry enters a new level (11 Apr 07 |  Business )
The rise of the handheld console (27 Feb 07 |  Technology )
Nintendo respond to Wii breakages (15 Dec 06 |  Technology )
Nintendo's DS still a key player (26 Oct 06 |  Business )
Nintendo's games boost forecast (03 Oct 06 |  Business )
Nintendo Wii to make debut in US (14 Sep 06 |  Business )
Nintendo profits on console craze (24 Jul 06 |  Business )

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Nintendo
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites



SEARCH BBC NEWS: 

News Front Page | Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia | UK | Business | Health | Science & Environment | Technology | Entertainment | Also in the news | Have Your Say |
Business Contents:  Your Money | Economy Companies

NewsWatch | Notes | Contact us | About BBC News | Profiles | History

^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©