IR Information

Summary of Q & A from Financial Results Briefing
for the nine-month period through December 2007
BACK | 1 2 |

(Others in general)

Q   When will you launch "Wii Fit" in overseas markets?
A

  As of now, we are making relevant preparations to hopefully launch sometime during the April-June period.

Q   Now that the year-end sales season is over, are you still making "Wii" hardware at its maximum production capability?  Also, do you have a plan to increase the production capability in the next fiscal year?
A

  We are still keeping its maximum 1.8 million unit monthly production at this moment.  As for our plan for the next fiscal year, we are reviewing the possibility of a production capability increase, but we would like to discuss it further at our briefing when we report our annual financial results.

Q   Tell us about "Wii" software production capability.
A

  A small delay in software production occurred last year, but there is no delay today.  We are reviewing the possibility for increasing our software production capability in the next fiscal year.

Q   Has your production capability for "Nintendo DS" software been enough to meet demand?
A

  Because we’ve spent a long time dealing with "Nintendo DS" software production, we believe that we have been able to meet demand.

Q   According to the materials provided to us for this briefing, the first party software lineup from now appears to me to be weak or not sufficient.  I recall that the company once disclosed the total number of software titles under development then.  Can you update that number for us?
A

  Internally, we are not significantly changing the number of software development teams, which are working on a number of different titles today.  When we compare today’s situation with the past, there are now less "Nintendo DS" software development teams and more "Wii" software development teams in our company.

Q   Nintendo’s first party titles are selling well on the "Wii" platform, but aren't the third parties’ software sales less than expected?
A

  At Nintendo, whenever we are developing a new hardware system, our internal hardware development teams and software development teams work together closely.  As a result, our internal software development teams become most familiar with the new features of the new hardware, and they are the first to initiate applicable software developments before the hardware launch date, much earlier than others.  The first party software sales ratio is high today, but we believe it will change in the future.  For example, looking at "Wii" software shipments through the subject 3rd quarter (April-December 2007), there were 14 "Wii" titles for which 9-month shipments topped 1 million and, among them, 11 were Nintendo’s first party titles.  In comparison, 28 of the 50 "Nintendo DS" titles which topped 1 million shipments on a life-to-date basis were Nintendo first party.  What we are trying to say by this is that a similar situation was pointed out in the earlier days of "Nintendo DS" sales, but that situation has been changing.  So, we believe that the ratio of third party software sales for "Wii" will increase in the future as well.

Q   Some time ago, the company said that selling 300 million units of software for Nintendo platforms in one fiscal year would be a mid-term goal, but that goal appears to have been reached in this fiscal year already.  Would you share with us the new target?
A

  Allow us not to comment on this as we have yet to surpass the 300 million software sales mark.  If we are successfully able to do so, we would like to discuss a new mid-term goal at our next briefing to talk about our financial results.

Q   Game software used to be something like fresh produce that you could not sell beyond a month or so after the initial launch to market.  Today, there are titles that have been selling consistently for a year or even two.  What elements, do you think, are contributing to this new trend?
A

  In short, we believe it is because the gaming population is expanding.  Previously,  the main and the majority of the purchasers of game software were avid game players, who were eager to play new software as soon as titles hit the market, earlier than anybody else, which resulted in a generally short period of time in which video games could sell.  Today, as new players are entering into this market, they appear to be forming new purchase patterns.

Q   I saw a report that some theme park has started to utilize "Nintendo DS" as a tour-guide on an experimental basis.  How do you deal with or cooperate with such activities in general that might construct a new environment involving "Nintendo DS", both inside and outside Japan?
A

  More than 21 million units of "Nintendo DS" are played in Japan alone.  Globally, the number exceeds 64 million.  It is really something that a single-architecture product like "Nintendo DS" is now being used by so many people.  We think it is now becoming possible that "Nintendo DS" may be used as a sort of social infrastructure.  A number of companies are making a variety of proposals to Nintendo.  We are reviewing its potential for ourselves too.

Q   Are you taking countermeasures to avoid adverse effects due to yen appreciation such as increasing purchases with U.S. dollars?
A

  We are continuing to do purchase transactions in U.S. dollars when possible, and we are always making efforts to reduce costs in general.

Forecasts included in the answers above are based upon management’s assumptions with information available at the time the answers were made and, therefore, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Please note that such risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to be materially different from the forecasts (earnings forecast, dividend forecast and other forecasts).

BACK | 1 2 |


Page Top