Nintendo Co. President Satoru Iwata, who tripled revenue by introducing hits like the Wii console, is coming under fire from investors and analysts after the company¡¯s latest game machine flopped.
Though Iwata had vowed to deliver ?100 billion in operating profit this fiscal year, the world¡¯s largest maker of video game machines instead forecast a surprise ?35 billion loss, blaming poor sales by the Wii U. The company last week cut projections for Wii U unit sales by 69 percent and game sales by 50 percent.
The 54-year-old Iwata has stuck to family-focused games, which are losing favor as casual players use smartphones and tablets while hard-core gamers opt for more advanced machines from Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. Nintendo, which has zero debt and about $8.6 billion of cash and equivalents, is studying new business models to revive sales after previously ruling out licensing its Mario and Zelda franchises to competitors.
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