One of Nintendo's most recently anticipated products will not be sitting under the Christmas tree this year. The release date for the Nintendo 3DS, a revolutionary handheld gaming device that uses 3-dimensional graphics, has been changed to sometime in March 2011. This means that the device will not be available during the holiday season, the prime consumer buying time. According to the Wall Street Journal, Nintendo's expected profits for the fiscal year ending in March will fall severely. The projected profit is now around 90 billion yen, down from nearly 200 billion yen. This is of course partially due to the weakness of the yen, but also mainly due to the fact that their key item will not be placed into a hot market. It wouldn't be practical for Nintendo to try to speed up the release though - there would not be enough items in stock for them to pull off such a stunt for the holidays. This is certainly a case of bad timing for Nintendo.
This case of bad timing will most definitely transfer to electronics retailers such as Best Buy. Any retailer who would have been able to carry the Nintendo 3DS is going to lose out on a significant profit. There is no doubt that retailers depend upon the holiday season, new hot products, and willing buyers to get through the year with a substantial profit. The 3DS's original release projection meant that a hot new product would be arriving during the holiday season - the time when everyone is buying. Consumers will still be enthusiastic about the product in March, but not nearly as much as they would have been during the holiday season. This could end up being detrimental to some retailers.
As the 3DS misses out on the holiday, Nintendo and many retailers will miss out on the profits.
Catherine Reeves
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704116004575521143661439792.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLETopStories
I found your post regarding Nintendo's failure to release the new 3D gaming device very interesting. I'm sure that without a hot new product, Nintendo will find it very hard to match last year's profits. Last holiday season Nintendo's Wii console was still extremely popular and demand was very high due to the console's affordable price and unique gaming experience.
ReplyDeleteNintendo is one of the world's most important supplier when it comes to video gaming, and I am sure that your statement is unfortunately true:
Many retailers will suffer a great deal in profits with the lack of a hot new item.
Written by Michael Milner