Nintendo sales improve, DS profits up 72%

Nintendo’s success just keeps on growing like, well, like mushrooms and Goombas and pizza dough! Mario and Luigi would be so proud to know that Nintendo reports a 72% growth in fiscal second-quarter profit on DS sales and the latest Super Mario title. Here’s an idiot’s guide to the Bloomberg report:

• Nintendo sold more DS units than they expected.
• They made a ton more money than they expected.
• They’re going to try to sell even more DS units.
• They’re upgrading their financial targets.

In other words, they’re not going to sit on their Goombas and enjoy the ride. They’re going to keep pushing:

• Increased targets. They’re going to try to ship 20 million DS units this year. Before, their goal was 17 million. They can do it: they ship 100,000 units per week, and Bloomberg reports that these are still getting sold out in Tokyo.
• Wii. As you all know, until March 31, Nintendo’s trying to move out 6 million Wii units and 17 million games.
• Year-end target. Nintendo’s fiscal year ends March 31 (as you know, a company’s financial year doesn’t have to start on January). They’re now trying to get 100 billion yen (845 million US dollars) in profits (their goal before was “only” 83 billion or 702 million US dollars). Nintendo came close last year: 98.4 billion yen.

The year (and the hard work) isn’t over yet. The market can be fickle (Sony has cut it’s shipment expectations for the PSP by 25% – they’re now only expecting 9 million units), so Nintendo has to keep at it. Of course, they couldn’t have gotten anywhere without your support.

Nintendo’s success just keeps on growing like, well, like mushrooms and Goombas and pizza dough! Mario and Luigi would be so proud to know that Nintendo reports a 72% growth in fiscal second-quarter profit on DS sales and the latest Super Mario title. Here’s an idiot’s guide to the Bloomberg report:

• Nintendo sold more DS units than they expected.
• They made a ton more money than they expected.
• They’re going to try to sell even more DS units.
• They’re upgrading their financial targets.

In other words, they’re not going to sit on their Goombas and enjoy the ride. They’re going to keep pushing:

• Increased targets. They’re going to try to ship 20 million DS units this year. Before, their goal was 17 million. They can do it: they ship 100,000 units per week, and Bloomberg reports that these are still getting sold out in Tokyo.
• Wii. As you all know, until March 31, Nintendo’s trying to move out 6 million Wii units and 17 million games.
• Year-end target. Nintendo’s fiscal year ends March 31 (as you know, a company’s financial year doesn’t have to start on January). They’re now trying to get 100 billion yen (845 million US dollars) in profits (their goal before was “only” 83 billion or 702 million US dollars). Nintendo came close last year: 98.4 billion yen.

The year (and the hard work) isn’t over yet. The market can be fickle (Sony has cut it’s shipment expectations for the PSP by 25% – they’re now only expecting 9 million units), so Nintendo has to keep at it. Of course, they couldn’t have gotten anywhere without your support.