Yahoo Finance Nintendo shares plunge on smartphone game delay
Shares in Japanese videogame giant Nintendo plunged as much as 10 percent Thursday, weighing on Tokyo's broad-based Topix index, after saying it would delay the rollout of a smartphone game seen as crucial to its future.
The Kyoto-based firm's new president Tatsumi Kimishima said it needed more time to "boost the quality" of its first smartphone offering, called Miitomo, and would not launch it until March -- after initially aiming for the end of this year.
Soon after the announcement Nintendo's stock price dropped 10 percent. It recovered some ground to close 8.97 percent lower at 20,945 yen.
Mobile gaming company DeNA, which Nintendo developed the game with, plummeted 14.93 percent to 2,080 yen.
Nintendo bought a stake in Tokyo-based DeNA as part of a deal to develop smartphone games based on its host of popular characters, possibly including Super Mario and Donkey Kong. Nintendo shares soared more than 20 percent on the day the deal was announced.
The delay in releasing Miitomo will add to uncertainty that has swirled around the company since its chief executive Satoru Iwata, a leading figure in the videogame industry, died of cancer at the age of 55 in the summer.
Iwata oversaw the success of Nintendo's Wii console and a surge in revenue before smartphone games started eating away at its success.
He had long resisted a move away from its consoles-only policy, but acknowledged last year the firm had little choice to but to move into new markets.
Thursday's announcement comes a day after Nintendo announced a 20 percent drop in net profit in April-September, largely owing a big year-earlier gain.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed up 0.17 percent, or 32.69 points, at close at 18,935.71, while the Topix index of all first-section shares was marginally lower, dipping 0.08 points to 1,547.11.
Investors are assessing the Federal Reserve's signal that it might raise the interest rate in December as it delivered an upbeat outlook on the world's top economy.
The news lifted the dollar in US trade Wednesday to 121.09 yen from 120.40 yen earlier in Asia. But it slipped back to 120.75 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade Thursday.
Dealers also kept tabs on a busy day for Japanese earnings, with Sony and Panasonic among a slew of firms reporting Thursday.
After the closing bell, Sony posted a six-month net profit of almost $1.0 billion, marking a big improvement in its finances as it moves past years of losses.
Before markets opened, fresh data showed Japan's factory output unexpectedly rebounded in September, tempering expectations of more central bank stimulus.
The BoJ holds a one-day policy meeting on Friday.
In Tokyo share trading, Toyota fell 1.23 percent to 7,457 yen, banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ was down 0.31 percent at 780.9 yen, mobile carrier SoftBank rose 0.88 percent to 6,840 yen and factory robotics maker Fanuc jumped 2.47 percent to 21,380 yen.
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