Nintendo reports Wii U, Amiibo sales decline, but a decent 3DS sales bump

Wii U and Amiibo sales drop are among the reasons for the overall decline in this Nintendo earnings report.

Nintendo has published its earnings report for the six-month period ending September 30, 2016.

The results show an overall decline in sales over the same period last year, an estimated 33 percent. This translates to 136,812 million Yen ($1.3 billion), compared to 204,182 ($1.9 billion) million Yen last year.

Operating income also saw a decline at a similar 33 percent rate. The loss trend extended to ordinary income, where the company lost 30,883 million Yen ($295 million), compared to 16,436 million Yen ($157 million) in the first half of the previous year.

Nintendo did see an increase in profits from 11,466 million Yen over the same quarter last year, to 38,299 million Yen ($366 million). This was largely attributed to the sale of the Seattle Mariners baseball team, which it had for years.

Hardware-wise, Nintendo sold 2.71 million units over the six-month period, a 19 percent increase year-on-year. Part of that was thanks to Pokémon Go, which resulted in increased sales of Pokémon titles on the 3DS, and the console itself, particularly outside Japan.

The Wii U sold only 560.000 units during the period, out of 800.000 shipped - a 53 decrease year-on-year (1.1 million units).

Nintendo said the decline in Wii U sales is because the console had no hit titles this year, unlike the previous year which saw the release of Splatoon and Super Mario Maker. Overall, Wii U software sales dropped 33 percent compared to last year.

Amiibo, too, saw a decline, which Nintendo believes is due to fewer new titles supporting it. Amiibo sales were down to 3.8 million units for the figures, and 1.7 million for the cards.

As for forecasts, the company said the upcoming release of Pokémon Sun and Moon and Super Mario Maker are expected to have a positive effect on 3DS sales. The upcoming Nintendo Classic Mini – NES and the iOS game Super Mario Run, were also highlighted.

There was no mention of the Switch in the report, outside of referencing the recent reveal and reiterating the March 2017 release date.