Yahoo Finance Nintendo Shares Slide As Wii U Sales Collapse
Shares in Japan's Nintendo have plunged after the company cut back its sales forecast of Wii games systems by two-thirds.
The company said it would not make a profit this year, sending the stock price down by 18.43% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The drop saw more than £600m wiped from the company's value.
The problems stem from a 68% fall in sales of its flagship games consoles.
The creator of the Donkey Kong and Super Mario brands said it expected it would now only sell 2.8 million Wii U consoles - compared to an original forecast of nine million units.
The slide followed last week's price decline as rumours began circulating about Wii sales problems.
Nintendo said it expects a loss of 25 billion yen (£145m) in the year to March, reversing an earlier 55 billion yen (£321m) net profit forecast.
"Investors had been praying for a strong recovery but what's obvious now is that the company is lagging behind," Hirokazu Kabeya, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities (Other OTC: DSECF - news) , said.
"Both the hardware and software businesses were bad. It was as if the company got a 'no' verdict on all aspects.
"One smartphone does everything for many people and so they don't feel the need to have game consoles."
However, the falling fortunes of Nintendo contrast with Sony (Berlin: SON1.BE - news) and Microsoft (Berlin: MSF.BE - news) , which have seen huge demand for their latest consoles.
Sony has seen record demand for its new PlayStation 4 console, which had already sold more than 4.2 million units by the start of the year.
Microsoft's Xbox One sold more than one million units in the first 24 hours after its release in November.
Nintendo hoped for a big Christmas demand to boost flagging sales but was forced to chop forecasts for its gaming software, where high profits reside.
The shares slide eased on Monday afternoon.
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