Nintendo forecasts $335M operating loss following unimpressive holiday sales

Nintendo expects an operating loss of 35 billion yen ($335 million) for the year ending March 31, 2014, down from the projected operating income of 100 billion yen ($958 million), according to its full-year financial and dividend forecasts report.

Posting its second consecutive annual operating loss in April, Nintendo projected net sales of 920 billion yen and profit forecast of 55 billion yen ($526 million) for the current financial year. The software and hardware manufacturer now forecasts 590 billion yen ($5.65 billion) in sales and a net loss of 25 billion yen ($239 million).

The company states that the operating loss is attributed to "significantly lower" holiday season sales than originally forecasted, largely due to hardware sales not meeting expected targets. According to Nintendo, the year-end sales season "constitutes the highest proportion of the annual sales volume."

Nintendo reported a 23.2 billion yen ($187 million) operating loss in its financial highlights for the six months ending September 2013. It noted at the time that poor sales of the Wii U console still had a negative impact on the company's profits.

The company now forecasts that 2.8 million Wii U consoles and 13.5 million Nintendo 3DS units will ship this financial year, a shift from the previous estimation of 9 million and 18 million, respectively. Wii U software sales are now only expected to reach 19 million units, down from the expected 38 million figure. Projected 3DS software sales have been adjusted from 80 million to 66 million.

Earlier this month, Nintendo announced that more than 16 million 3DS games were sold through retailers and Nintendo's eShop in 2013, resulting in an increase of 45 percent over the previous year. Lifetime sales of the 3DS, 3DS XL and 2DS totalled 11.5 million in the United States.