Nintendo Bails Furiously but the Worst May Be Yet to Come

[ECTNews]

 Can things get any worse for Nintendo? Its first-quarter earnings were a major disappointment, with net sales down 50.2 percent and gross profit down 84.3 percent, compared with the same period the previous fiscal year. Sales of its five-month old 3DS game console were absolutely dismal -- a mere 710,000 units sold in the April-June quarter -- prompting the company to shore up the product line by cutting the price to a loss-leading $170 per unit. Sales forecasts for other products, such as its Wii home game console and DS handheld device have also been lowered.