Nintendo Stock Continues Fall, Hits Lowest Price Since 2006
Since those heady days in 2007, Nintendo’s stock has been declining steadily. With the announcement of the Wii U yesterday, that trend did not reverse. In fact, it actually accelerated.
Nintendo’s stock dropped nearly 6% in Tokyo, taking it to levels not previously seen since before the Wii was announced.
It seems investors have been disappointed by what Nintendo brought to the table. MarketWatch report that:
Tony Wible of Janney Capital Markets described the Wii U in a note to clients as a “next generation device that seemingly blurs the lines between being a peripheral and a console.” He said the console may end up being “confusing” to customers and may seem “redundant with the rise of tablets and streaming technology,” such as the OnLive service.
“However, Nintendo will have time to perfect its technology/sales message for its large loyal core fan base, and can force adoption through its support for exclusive first party titles,” Wible wrote.
via: wsj.com
Doesn’t surprise me, if I were an investor I’d want to get the hell out of dodge after seing the Wii U too. It looks to be a great system for the people that flip out over a blurry screenshot of what might possibly be Zelda, but it doesn’t look to be the kind of big-selling, family-friendly toy that the Wii was and that level of success is all anyone wants and expects now.
Probably the biggest reason for the stock drop though is Nintendo will soon go from making money with the Wii to subsidizing the Wii U during it’s adoption phase. That, pared with the gradual decline of the DS and the 3DS not yet pulling the weight the DS once did, Nintendo’s profits will almost surely be down a bit over the next couple of years.
Still nowhere near the money sink the PS3 has been to Sony though.