Iwata:

  The domestic demand for the period ending in March lowered from our estimate made on October 2008. On the other hand, overseas markets performed just as we expected. At the end of October 2008, we made a fairly bullish estimate for overseas markets, and it is moving along according to our estimates.

Iwata:

  As I am not from the U.S., all I can tell you is based on my understanding. If Reggie Fils-Aime (President of Nintendo of America) were to be here, he would be able to tell you better.

  The largest reason is Christmas. Americans buy a lot of presents during the Christmas holidays. Christmas gift guides, which I prefer not to call flyers but rather catalogs, usually circulate at the end of the year, and products advertised favorably there usually sell extremely well.

  These “rotos,” the ads with visuals that are distributed with papers, dictate the sales volume of products. American consumers go to retailers after deciding what to buy according to these rotos. As retailers also emphasize what rotos featured, these products also receive great visibility at retailers. This is my understanding of the retail business model in the U.S., according to what I have heard, seen and felt as one consumer, during my ten-times-a-year-visits for years.

  In December, videogames receive larger visibility. And every retailer offers its own campaign like bundling Wii console and software for a discount as if to tell consumers that it’s high time to buy. And consumers who have been thinking about buying a product and who find it in rotos or at retailers come to think that right now is the time to buy it. Most likely, this is why we see concentrated sales around this time.

  In Japan, seasonality of sales of videogames is getting less relevant as the gaming population has been expanding. But in the U.S., seasonality remains relevant even though the gaming population is actually expanding. On the other hand, as our business during the months when it was relatively small has increased sales, we have a strong feeling that the videogame market has been expanding.

Iwata:

  in this spring, we are planning to launch the system update including the storage problem solutions (utilizing SD cards) which I presented at the Nintendo Conference, but a specific date cannot be disclosed today. We are preparing to include the campaign with the update and start the service at the same time. We thank you for your patience.

Iwata:

  Actually, the ratio of the U.S. dollar payments among our gross payment is increasing. On the other hand, as many of our suppliers are Japanese firms, many of them request payment in Japanese yen. We actively pay in U.S. dollars for firms such as foreign ones where apparently payment in U.S. dollar is more useful. Even for some Japanese ones, we are asking for the payment in dollars.
I do not think it necessary nor have any plan to publicize specifically what is paid in dollars and what is in Japanese yen.

  Today we have a much larger ratio of payment in euro than that of the time when we started to think that payment in dollars was necessary. At that time, as sales made in U.S. dollars was really huge, so if we paid in dollars, it was a good natural hedge to offset the sales and we were actively working on that. I think we have made some progress so far. Actually we can see a certain level of hedge on the document we distribute today, where sales in dollars and amount we paid in dollars are written.

  However, payment in euro does not virtually exist (at this moment.) And to realize that is not easy at all; I think it is harder than increasing our payments in U.S. dollars. If we increase good businesses with firms which belong to the Euro territory and payment in Euro can be made, it will be a good natural hedge for us. In the long term, as American and European videogame markets are expanding more than the Japanese market, my understanding is that we have to find the way for currency hedge against Euro just like we did for U.S. dollar.

  As for “NINTENDO POWER”, Nintendo of America has long been headquartered in Redmond, which is close to Seattle and where Microsoft’s headquarters are located, and most of Nintendo’s function is based there.

  On the other hand, in order to develop business in the U.S., we internally discussed if it was really good to settle all the function in the U.S. in Redmond/Seattle. As a result, we built a branch for the sales and marketing department in Redwood City in Silicone Valley, in order to be near where America’s fastest technology innovation takes place. Along with that, we moved another department to New York City, the center of media, where we can enhance our public relations or media policy than in Seattle.

  As for “NINTENDO POWER” magazine, it has contributed greatly so far in selling NES and SNES, which Nintendo had to start from scratch in the U.S.

  Back then, publishing and distributing a monthly magazine was the most practical way to connect consumers and manufacturers. Now we have a much higher frequency of connecting with consumers online than traditional print publications. Online also has an advantage with lower cost and speed. As so many media are shifting from print to online, we also wanted to shift how we primarily connect with our consumers, and going from our paper publication, NINTENDO POWER, to online as the center of our message delivery efforts to our consumers. Part of the team that moved to New York included Nintendo’s web content team, and they are working with an increased number of staff.