Nintendo Co., the world's largest maker of video game machines, forecast its first annual loss on record amid the yen's surge to a new postwar high and weaker than expected sales of the new 3DS console.
The net loss may be ¥20 billion for the year ending in March, compared with a previous projection for a ¥20 billion profit, Nintendo said in a statement Thursday. That compares with an average profit estimate of ¥12.2 billion based on the forecasts of 22 analysts contacted by Bloomberg.
Nintendo, which generates about 80 percent of its revenue in the Americas and Europe, is predicting lower profits after the yen soared against the dollar and climbed to a decade high against the euro, trimming the repatriated value of overseas sales. President Satoru Iwata cut the price of the 3DS by 40 percent in August as gaming fans flock to Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPad, and Facebook's website.