Nintendo market cap rockets to 2nd in Japan

[Captainnippon]

Nintendo market cap rockets

By Mariko Sanchanta in Tokyo
Published: September 25 2007 18:19 | Last updated: September 25 2007 18:19

Nintendo became Japan’s second-biggest company by market capitalisation behind Toyota on Tuesday, underlining how the success of the Wii games console has transformed the fortunes of the Kyoto-based company.
Shares in Nintendo closed up 3.1 per cent to Y59,200 bringing its market value to Y8,390bn ($73.2bn), surpassing Canon’s market cap of Y8,120bn. But the gap between Nintendo and Toyota remains substantial. Toyota’s market capitalisation is Y24,000bn.
The Japanese games maker’s shares have more than quadrupled over the past two years as the Wii console has trounced Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 to become the best-selling next-generation games machine in the world.
The surge in Ninteno’s market cap comes as Microsoft eagerly awaits the results of the launch of Halo 3, the latest version of its blockbuster video game. The game, which is expected to boost sales of the Xbox 360 console, went on sale yesterday.
Microsoft last month cut the price of its most popular Xbox 360 model by $50, following a similar move by Sony, which had cut the price of its PS3 console in the US to boost sales.
“Compared with two to three years ago, Nintendo is a completely different animal,” said Hiroshi Kamide, analyst at KBC securities.
“It has kept beating market expectations with its results and new products like the Wii Balance Board will keep the console fresh as it heads into the holiday season.”
Many analysts feel Nintendo is still not overvalued, in spite of its high share price. The company is known to be conservative in its profit forecasts, and foreign exchange rates in the US and Europe are expected to give its bottom line a boost.
Nintendo is back at the top of the console market, a position it last held 17 years ago with the Nintendo and Super Nintendo consoles. Observers attribute Nintendo’s success to Satoru Iwata, the company’s president, who joined the games maker in 2002.
Mr Iwata is credited with forcing Nintendo to revamp its strategy by not trying to compete directly with Sony or Microsoft.
Instead, the games maker has created a market in gaming by trying to woo adults as well as children.
Nintendo’s reclaimed supremacy was underlined in July when it leapfrogged Sony, the consumer electronics group, in terms of market capitalisation for the first time.
Sony disappointed gamers last week when it said the launch of Home, its virtual reality world, would be delayed until the spring.
The Wii costs $249 compared with $300-$400 for the Xbox 360 and $599 for the PS3. Anlaysts say prices of all three consoles are expected to drop by the crucial holiday shopping season.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b1ec561a-6...0779fd2ac.html



****, wish i had money on Nintendo.

[PS3-The Ultimate Machine]

So,whats your point?(More words)

[Captainnippon]

My point is I could've made a lot of money if I invested in Nintendo.

[One-Shot]

Saw this earlier. Really amazing and great to see a souly videogame company so high.

[anjiru0009]

I can't comprehend why Sony gets so much flak over no games yet because Nintendo is the current leader everyone is mum about it. This sub forum is dead, there is no news, and there just so few in games.

Sorry for ranting in your thread but the fact its talking about japan market share was what triggered it.

[Gameplay Player]

I can't comprehend why Sony gets so much flak over no games yet because Nintendo is the current leader everyone is mum about it. This sub forum is dead, there is no news, and there just so few in games.

Sorry for ranting in your thread but the fact its talking about japan market share was what triggered it.

"No games" at $599 sounds a LOT worse than "No Games" at $250. Though for the record Wii has around 7 million selling games.

[AndrewB]

I can't comprehend why Sony gets so much flak over no games yet because Nintendo is the current leader everyone is mum about it.

Because the PS3 has a crap future. The Wii has a bright future. Therefore, we (should) all know where the good games are more likely to end up.

Yeah, the available games for the system is comparable at the moment, but year after year it's only going to get worse and worse for the PS3.

[anjiru0009]

Sony first party will never go anywhere. You guys seem awfully confident for not having major Japan ip's such as Final Fantasy 13/vs 13 and MGS.

Sorry but the talk of the future is laughable, the Wii is dated hardware it's future might be the must brim.

Amazing even the event of PSP topping sales chart a few days ago because of one single title people are so quick to consider the ps3 down and out.

[seebs]

Topping sales for two weeks doesn't really do much good in the long run. The PSP's still a very, very, distant second to the DS. One good title, plus a new model, is a big deal -- I know a lot of people (myself among them) got a DS Lite almost immediately when it came out, despite already having a DS.

I dunno. I am not that interested in FF13. Non-turn-based battles do not interest me.

[Fred333]

I am not a big fan of those either.

[kokoriet]

Last time I checked Nintendo were eighth, now second in japan? I wonder how the market analysts are dealing with the situation..

[Bluto]

Sony first party will never go anywhere. You guys seem awfully confident for not having major Japan ip's such as Final Fantasy 13/vs 13 and MGS.

Not sure if i remember exactly but i'm pretty sure MGS usually sells around 500,000 in Japan and that's on consoles with far bigger userbases than the PS3. MGS really isn't gonna make that big of a difference.

[Avrum]

Sony first party will never go anywhere. You guys seem awfully confident for not having major Japan ip's such as Final Fantasy 13/vs 13 and MGS.

Sorry but the talk of the future is laughable, the Wii is dated hardware it's future might be the must brim.

Amazing even the event of PSP topping sales chart a few days ago because of one single title people are so quick to consider the ps3 down and out.

PSP topping charts for a couple of weeks doesn't exactly compare to DS topping charts for more the better part of a couple of YEARS. Certainly, it's too early to count out the PS3, I would agree, but you aren't much better predicting Wii's future. Even with its "dated hardware" it has pretty much exceeded the expectations of most "would be" analysts for the simple fact that these people (analysts or otherwise) simply were quick to count Nintendo out prematurely.

As someone mentioned before, no games at $250 is much easier to swallow than no games at $500-$600. The thing is, the Wii has been selling exceptionally well with supposedly "no games" as it is. How much more will that potential increase when games actually start to come? That's the difference between Wii and PS3 right now. One is actually moving inventory to a huge degree while one is pushing along slowly until the proper software comes out that "may" change things.