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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