Nintendo Profits Up 72% As DS Soars

After raising its forecasts earlier in the month, officials from Nintendo have revealed that the company’s second quarter profits rose by 72 percent on the same period last year, following the continued worldwide success of the Nintendo DS. Results were inline with the forecasts, as net profits for the six months ending September 30th rose by 48.4 percent to ¥54.35 billion ($457.7m) or ¥38.8 billion ($326.8m) for the second quarter alone. Net sales rose by as much as 69.4 percent on the previous year to ¥298.82 billion ($2.52bn), with sales for the second quarter up 59 percent to ¥167.9 billion ($1.41bn). Sales in Japan alone, not including inter-segment sales, were put at ¥124.4 billion ($1.05bn). North America sales were valued at ¥92.8 billion ($781.6m) and European sales at ¥78.0 billion ($656.9m). As usual, the company also profited from a weak yen, thanks to its considerable foreign currency holdings, gaining an additional ¥24.1 billion ($203.0m). A total of 10.9 million units of the Nintendo DS were sold during the first six months of the year – an increase of 3.57 million on the same time last year – for a lifetime-to-date total stated at 26.82 million. The company had previously raised unit forecasts from 17 million to 20 million for the year, with expected software sales up 9 percent to 8.2 million. New Super Mario Bros. proved to be the company’s most successful software title, with 6.76 million units sold worldwide to date. Meanwhile, Brain Training (aka Brain Age) has sold 4.59 million units worldwide during the six months and 8.51 over its entire lifetime. All Touch! Generations games combined have sold a total of 13.54 million units in Japan and 25.27 million units worldwide on a life-to-date basis.