Nintendo will sell new consoles for emerging markets starting next year, says Bloomberg

[Himanshu Arora]

In a shift of strategy, Japanese video-game company Nintendo has said it will release new consoles targeted at emerging markets, according to Bloomberg. The products will be developed from scratch to serve these markets, rather than rebadging existing hardware such as its Wii U or 3DS.

"We want to make new things, with new thinking rather than a cheaper version of what we currently have," CEO and president Satoru Iwata said.

Iwata told Reuters that the company would offer new hardware for countries such as China, and it would be targeted towards consumers with lower incomes and less gaming experience compared to those in developed countries.

The company is also planning to push the use of characters such as Mario by offering figurines that will allow the transfer of game information between devices through NFC.

Until now, the company has sold the same hardware to all of its global markets. There have been some exceptions though. For example, the company released the N64-based iQue Player exclusively in China in 2003.

Earlier in the day, Iwata also outlined the company's plans to launch Mario Kart companion apps for mobile and web this year, but reiterated that the company currently has no plans to launch games for the smartphone market.

The company doesn't see a sustainable way to make money in a business with repeated economic expansion and contraction, he said.

The news comes a day after the company reported a loss of $457 million, or 46.4 billion yen, in its 2013 earnings report.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/56687-nintendo-will-sell-new-consoles-for-emerging-markets-starting-next-year-says-bloomberg.html

 

[oldikes]

Nintendo logic the pat 2-3 years confounds me.

 

[Scshadow]

I read this post twice now and I'm still not sure what exactly Nintendo is doing and why they think it will be a good idea. So they are going to produce knockoffs of their own products and release them in territories where they don't have to compete with big bad Sony and Microsoft? Hmm... maybe I understand it better then I thought.

 

[davislane1]

I read this post twice now and I'm still not sure what exactly Nintendo is doing and why they think it will be a good idea. So they are going to produce knockoffs of their own products and release them in territories where they don't have to compete with big bad Sony and Microsoft? Hmm... maybe I understand it better then I thought.

1. They are going to sell new products.
2. They are going to sell these products in new markets.

This makes perfect sense for Nintendo. They've run themselves into a corner with the Wii U and the proposed diversification offers them the potential to make up the difference while reevaluating the strategy for their core product.

 

[treetops]

3. They are bringing Mario and other major brands to new platforms. But not smart phones.

sigh, make smart phone mario already and earn back those losses

 

[Tekkaraiden]

So they're going to develop new hardware to try to enter a market that may or may not be interested just because they'll have no competition? I can't see this ending well.

 

[stewi0001]

I wonder if they are kicking themselves yet for breaking up with Rareware.... *sigh* I missed those days...

 

[Footlong]

So they want to spit their market in two? The rich market and the poor market? This does not sound like a good idea. Think yourself as a chinese. Right now think you have some contact with the outside world. Where in Japan and US people get the better Mario, you will get the cheaper Mario. Sounds great untill you think yourself as a second tier consumer. Someone who deserves less.
Nintendo needs to think of a new hardware and fast. To be on par with Xbox One and PS4. It also needs to release it's own smartphone. They have enough money and R&D to do one. They also need to be easier on their youtube policies. Now youtube is the biggest gaming channel on the internet. If Nintendo keeps punishing youtubers for using their content (google it up) word to mouth market won't happen for them.

PS: they talk about emerging markets, but focus only on China. Emerging markets are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. I'd also include Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey.

 

[wastedkill]

Their first product will the the "iWii" Then "iWii Oue"