TOKYO, May 26 (Reuters) - Nintendo Co. Ltd. (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research) reported on Thursday a slight increase in annual operating profit, but forecast lower-than-expected growth in the current year amid intense competition.
The Japanese videogame maker also said it expected to sell 12.4 million DS portable devices in the current year to March, compared with the lower-than-estimated 5.27 million units last year.
Software sales for DS, which it launched late last year, are expected to more than triple to 35 million units, helped by new titles such as Nintendogs and Electroplankton.
The company had forecast brisk sales of the DS in the last business year, but DS software sales were slower than expected and demand for its GameCube consoles was lacklustre.
Nintendo, based in the ancient capital of Kyoto, said its operating profit in the business year ended March 31 rose 3.6 percent to 111.52 billion yen ($1.04 billion) from 107.68 billion yen a year earlier.
This missed market expectations of 114.5 billion yen, based on the median figure in a survey of eight analysts by Reuters Estimates.
The company, known for game characters such as Mario, Donkey Kong and Pokemon, said it expected operating profit in the current year to increase to 115 billion yen, compared with market expectations of 122.2 billion yen.
Nintendo said last week at the E3 annual industry trade show in Los Angeles that it planned to launch a new cell phone-sized Game Boy, dubbed "Micro", in the autumn.
The company will also be releasing a much-anticipated new Legend of Zelda game and four new Mario games for the GameCube console in addition to new titles for DS.
Analysts expect sales of the new Zelda game and Micro portable device to be solid, but Nintendo faces challenges on all sides.
Nintendo dominates the portable game industry, with a roughly 94 percent market share, but Sony Corp. (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) is threatening its grip with PlayStation Portable (PSP), which it launched in Japan in December and in the United States in March
Meanwhile, its GameCube console has not sold well compared with the more popular PlayStation 2 made by Sony or the Xbox by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) .
Nintendo's game titles face stiff competition, particularly in the United States from the likes of Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Activision Inc. (ATVI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) .
Nintendo made a group net profit of 87.42 billion yen ($809 million), compared with 33.19 billion yen a year earlier, helped by bigger foreign-exchange gains than expected. The company had last month raised its net profit estimate by 17 percent to 82 billion yen.
Sales remained basically flat at 515.29 billion yen.
Shares of Nintendo rose 11.3 percent in the last business year, outperforming Microsoft, which lost 3 percent, Sony, which fell 2.1 percent and Electronic Arts, which shed 3.6 percent.
The stock fell 1.5 percent to 11,610 yen on Thursday ahead of the news, underperforming the Nikkei average , which rose 0.1 percent. ($1=107.67 yen)
باعو 5.27 مليون DS رغم ان توقعهم كان 6 مليون.. لكن بالمقارنة ننتيندو حققت أكبر من توقعها الأول ب3 ملايين اللي رفعوه بالتدرج من 3 الى 4 الى 5 في فترة قصيرة..
الآن عندهم نية شحن 12.4 مليون في السنة المالية الجديدة.. فعلا ننتيندو بتصير ماكينة أرباح خلال الفترة الجاية
