Despite a resurgence in popularity born of the release of Nintendo's Wii, the venerable Japanese video game maker is taking an earnings beatdown. And most blame Apple as the likely culprit.
This week, Nintendo revealed that its fiscal-first-half net profit plummeted better than 50% and added that things are bound to get worse before they get better. As reported by MacDailyNews, Nintendo "faces growing competition in the hand-held market from Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPod touch and their growing lineup of games," writes Kenneth Maxwell of the Wall Street Journal.
"Nintendo on Thursday said it will introduce a new version of its popular DS hand-held, the Nintendo DSi LL, that comes with a larger 4.2-inch screen that allows users to surf the Web and will encourage them to use the device as a music player. The current DSi has a 3.25-inch screen. The company said it will go on sale in Japan on Nov. 21, though it did not announce any immediate plans to sell the new device outside of Japan."
As Apple continues to gain ground in the portable gaming space, the Wall Street Journal also suggested that the Cupertino, Calif., company could enter the console business and compete with the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3. While that rumor has persisted for years, it has yet to prove accurate.
Apple also boasted in September that, at that moment, the iPhone OS had 21,179 game and entertainment titles available, compared to 3,680 for the Nintendo DS and 607 for the Sony PSP. One of the strengths of the iPhone and iPod touch is the number of budget-priced titles available for the platform. Comparatively, most games for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP cost between $25 and $40.
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