Nintendo Considering Mergers and Acquisitions

themadlionsfan
themadlionsfan Members Posts: 9,133 ✭✭✭✭✭
Iwata: Nintendo considering mergers and acquisitions as an option
by Mike Suszek Writer RSS on Jan 31st 2014 2:00PM

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Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said mergers and acquisitions are an option for turning the company's fortunes around in a Nikkei interview. Iwata said the company "should abandon old assumptions about our businesses. We are considering M&As as an option. For this reason, we'll step up share buybacks."

This echos Iwata's statements during a press conference earlier this month in which he said Nintendo is "thinking about a new business structure" and is specifically "studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business." It also follows news of the company having to drastically cut its forecasts for the fiscal year, taking its expected Wii U shipments down from 9 million to 2.8 million.

Additionally, Iwata commented on the option of Nintendo delisting itself from the stock market, saying that "quarterly earnings reporting is not a good fit for Nintendo." He said that even when Nintendo thinks a goal is reachable, it doesn't for sure know whether a product will be a hit. "But it is thanks to the stock market that Nintendo has grown to what it is today. I don't want to turn to a management buyout just because we are inconvenienced now," he added.

Comments

  • Karl.
    Karl. Members Posts: 8,015 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I bid £10,000 for the Zelda franchise.
  • Recaptimus_Prime360
    Recaptimus_Prime360 Members Posts: 64,801 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Sooooo I should be buying Nintendo stock right now @Sion?
  • earth two superman
    earth two superman Members Posts: 17,149 ✭✭✭✭✭
    expect Super mario all stars on the itunes app store very soon.
  • nawledge_god
    nawledge_god Members Posts: 5,622 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Nintendon't Sounding Desperate Outchere Breh
  • Broddie
    Broddie Members Posts: 11,750 ✭✭✭✭✭
    @Sion got some must read material for you

    http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/140130qa/02.html

    The points that stood out the most to me
    Last year Nintendo reorganized its R&D divisions and integrated the handheld device and home console development teams into one division under Mr. Takeda. Previously, our handheld video game devices and home video game consoles had to be developed separately as the technological requirements of each system, whether it was battery-powered or connected to a power supply, differed greatly, leading to completely different architectures and, hence, divergent methods of software development. However, because of vast technological advances, it became possible to achieve a fair degree of architectural integration. We discussed this point, and we ultimately concluded that it was the right time to integrate the two teams.

    For example, currently it requires a huge amount of effort to port Wii software to Nintendo 3DS because not only their resolutions but also the methods of software development are entirely different. The same thing happens when we try to port Nintendo 3DS software to Wii U. If the transition of software from platform to platform can be made simpler, this will help solve the problem of game shortages in the launch periods of new platforms.
    while we are only going to be able to start this with the next system, it will become important for us to accurately take advantage of what we have done with the Wii U architecture. It of course does not mean that we are going to use exactly the same architecture as Wii U, but we are going to create a system that can absorb the Wii U architecture adequately. When this happens, home consoles and handheld devices will no longer be completely different, and they will become like brothers in a family of systems.
    Currently, we can only provide two form factors because if we had three or four different architectures, we would face serious shortages of software on every platform.

    To cite a specific case, Apple is able to release smart devices with various form factors one after another because there is one way of programming adopted by all platforms. Apple has a common platform called iOS. Another example is Android. Though there are various models, Android does not face software shortages because there is one common way of programming on the Android platform that works with various models. The point is, Nintendo platforms should be like those two examples.

    Whether we will ultimately need just one device will be determined by what consumers demand in the future, and that is not something we know at the moment. However, we are hoping to change and correct the situation in which we develop games for different platforms individually and sometimes disappoint consumers with game shortages as we attempt to move from one platform to another, and we believe that we will be able to deliver tangible results in the future.

    So it looks like Iwata is finally interested in joining the rest of us in the 21st century. About ? time.

    The idea of theoretically buying only ONE piece of software that I could play on their next handheld and upscale to play on their next home platform as well without double dipping is extremely alluring. I'm sure that's really going to get non-Japanese third parties looking in their direction again.
  • funkdocdamc
    funkdocdamc Members Posts: 3,786 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Nintendo founding family to sell shares worth over $1 billion [UPDATE]
    Buyback now complete.

    [UPDATE] Nintendo today completed the buyback of 9.5 million shares from the Yamauchi family.

    The original story is below.

    The family of longtime Nintendo executive Hiroshi Yamauchi, grandson of founder Fusajiro Yamauchi, has informed the company that it plans to sell as many as 9.5 million shares tomorrow as part of a massive buyback worth an estimated $1.1 billion.

    Yamauchi died in September 2013. He was 85.

    The 9.5 million shares represents around 7.43 percent of outstanding stock, and will be purchased tomorrow in Japan at the stock's closing price of ¥ 12,025 today. The transaction will be made by Nintendo's agent through the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

    Yamauchi ran Nintendo for 53 years and gave his stake in the company to his four children following his death, Bloomberg reports. The family said in a statement that they have informed Nintendo of their "desire to sell," but did not say why.

    The announcement of the buyback comes after Nintendo announced dismal Wii U sales and downtrodden financial projections last month. The company has since outlined plans regarding how it intends to revitalize its business performance going forward.
  • Alkinduz
    Alkinduz Members Posts: 2,070 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Nintendo should just change the name(call it "the nintendo" or something)

    drop that pokemon rpg/mmo whatever, mad people will cop it, many have been fiending for that to drop