The debate started back in July, when the Pokemon Co. had announced plans to release an official Pokemon app for the iOS and Android devices. While the announcement boosted stockholders shares, the dream (and shares) was short-lived as Nintendo firmly said that they were only interested in developing software for their personal hardware. Sentiment after the retraction wasn’t well received.
After the poor financial showing, investors are calling for the company to make use of their staggering $10 billion in sales reserves. With Nintendo’s last acquisition being back in 2007 with the purchase of Xenoblade (and look how well that’s gone), the need to expand and grow in staring Nintendo in the face. Tetsuro Ii, president of Tokyo-based Commons Asset Management agreed to as much.
Last month, Iwata himself shot down the possibility of granting third-party companies the rights to outside sources. Stating that the short-term prospect may be worthwhile, long-term it could damage the preservation of Nintendo
It’s a slippery slope that Nintendo is on, and while you have to give them respect for wanting to keep their core intact, growth can never happen without change… and in this case, potentially radical change (and one that could be met with a deal with someone like Apple). The problem now is trying to fight a battle on two fronts: keeping gamers happy and now shareholders.
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Source: Bloomberg
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