Nintendo profits nearly double on Wii success

Nintendo has announced that profit for the nine months to December 31 has nearly doubled as sales of the Wii rose 85 per cent.

Net income climbed to JPY 258.93 billion (USD 2.43bn/EUR 1.66bn), up from JPY 131.92 billion a year earlier with sales at JPY 1.316 trillion (USD 12.35bn/EUR 8.44bn).

The company said it has now sold more than 20 million Wii consoles worldwide, with 14.29 million sold during the last three quarters.

Nintendo has raised its sales forecast for the full year to March 31 to JPY 1.63 trillion (USD 15.29bn/EUR 10.45bn), but kept profit forecasts at JPY 275 billion.

The DS has now sold 64.79 million units, with 24.5 million handhelds sold during the last nine months of 2007.

The company now expects to sell 18.5 million Wii and 29.5 million DS consoles by the end of March 2008.