8) Nintendo
$933 million
Fiscal 2017 was not a good year for Nintendo. The company experienced weak results across several facets of its business, not helped by a barren spell of game publishing in preparation for the launch of its latest console, the Switch. Nintendo’s fiscal year ended March 31st, meaning that just four of the year’s 52 weeks included the unprecedented initial sales of its new hardware. Overall, 2016 was abysmal, with Nintendo reporting a loss for the first time in its history ($49 million).
Nintendo’s losses were attributed to record low sales of the Wii U, which failed to exceed 250,000 units over the first three months of the year. Hardware sales for Wii U dropped by 77%, and only the slight 7% increase in 3DS sales were a notable positive.
Software was a key earner for the publisher, and again it was the 3DS leading the charge. The 14% increase in sales was mainly due to the overwhelmingly critical and commercial reception to Pokemon Sun & Moon. With respect to its mobile segment, despite the phenomenal sales of Pokemon GO, Nintendo’s 32% share wasn’t enough to affect its bottom line.
Amiibo sales also made for grim reading, with just 9.1 million figures and 9.3 million cards for the entire fiscal year. By comparison, in 2016 Nintendo sold 24.70 and 28.90 million units respectively.
Six months on, however, and Nintendo’s financial status is a very different sort of conversation. The incredible performance of the Nintendo Switch, in combination with impressive sales of games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, ARMS, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Splatoon 2 have steadied the ship. Although competition for parts has starved Nintendo’s ability to produce Switch units, fiscal 2018 is looking very positive, indeed.
