Nintendo wants to be more like Disney
The tenured Japanese gaming giant has enjoyed its most successful run over the past six years. But following that up will require Disney-like expansion.
Not only is Nintendo having a good year, it’s having a far better year than most predicted.
On its earnings call this week, Nintendo announced net profit for the six months ending September 30 was up 18% year on year, hitting 271 billion yen ($2.8 billion). That was about 10% above expectations and allowed Nintendo to lift its forward guidance for the full year.
What makes these strong numbers exceptional is that they come six years after the launch of the Nintendo Switch console, which the company is now built around.
Nintendo has already sold 132 million units of the console, second only to Sony's PlayStation 2. At a time in its lifecycle when buzz typically wilts, as gamers anticipate its followup, Switch hardware and software sales are higher than any time since the console’s launch, the company said in its earnings report.
