Nintendo Profits Double; Final DS Design Revealed

Representatives from Nintendo have revealed details of the company’s quarterly financial details with profits more than doubling from the same period last year. Year-on-year GameCube console sales have increased eight-fold and Game Boy Advance sales have risen by almost 70%. The company surpassed analyst expectations with an operating profit of ¥17.47 billion ($157.5m) in the three months ended June 30. This compares to a profit of ¥7.25 billion ($64.8m) a year earlier. On a net basis, the company’s profit jumped 98% to ¥22.64 billion ($202.4m), due in part to a ¥16.1 billion ($143.9m) foreign exchange-related gain. Sales actually fell 2% to ¥82.15 billion ($734.5m). According to company figures the GameCube has sold 15,220,000 units world-wide to date and the Game Boy Advance 53,720,000. This compares to approximately 15.5 million units for the Xbox and over 70 million for the PlayStation2. Also today, the final design for the Nintendo DS was revealed, showing a sleeker more angular design than that seen at this year’s E3. It was also revealed that that codename Nintendo DS would also be adopted as the final retail name for the console, confounding expectations that it would become part of the Game Boy brand. Source: Nintendo