Nintendo’s profit increase 4x in the quarter ending in June to $669 million. The company increased guidance for the year and the company raised its profit forecast by 40%.
Sales of the company’s Wii game unit have hit 9.1 million since the game was introduced last November. According to The Wall Street Journal: In June, Wii outsold the PlayStation 3 by nearly 4 to 1 and the Xbox 360 by almost 2 to 1 in the U.S., the world’s largest video game market, according to NPD Group Inc
In the meantime, Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox has suffered from hardware quality problems that lead the company to extend warranties on the machine and take a $1.1 billion charge.
But, the real damage is to Sony (SNE). According to the FT: Sony wants to convince consumers that its games consoles are essential “living room hardware”, capable of seamlessly networking with other Sony devices. This makes the Playstation the cornerstone of Sony’s plans to sell HDTV and Blu-ray HD players. If the Playstation’s sales continue to flag, the company’s vision of the home entertainment center of the future could be irreparably damaged.
That damage is going from being a possibility to a certainty very quickly.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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