q2-2015
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Bandai Namco income, sales up in first half of fiscal 2015
Bandai Namco's first half of fiscal year 2015 – April 1, 2014, to September 30, 2014 – is on the up and up: Net income hit 21.3 million yen ($184,000), an increase of 8.5 percent year over year, and net sales hit 259.3 million yen ($2.2 million), an increase of 13.5 percent. Operating income is up 20.8 percent to 31.9 million yen ($276,000), and recurring income increased 16.9 percent to 33.4 million yen ($289,000). So far in the fiscal year, Bandai Namco has shipped 50 games in Japan with 2.6 million unit sales, and 18 games in the US with 2.8 million unit sales. So far in Bandai Namco's 2015, it's sold 65,000 copies of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution in Japan, the US and Europe; 50,000 copies of One Piece Unlimited World Red; 40,000 copies of Sword Art Online Hollow Fragment; and 40,000 copies of Super Robot Wars Z 3 (Japan only). The company switched its name from Namco Bandai to Bandai Namco on April 1, 2014. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Lenovo is the new king of the PC and tablet hill
Did you know that Lenovo had planned to become the world's biggest PC and tablet maker by the end of 2016? It turns out that the company's achievement was even greater than its ambition, since the milestone has been reached six financial quarters early. In Lenovo's latest earnings release, the company trumps its new status as king of the PC (and tablet) world, having made a healthy $262 million net profit for the three months between July and September. Some of the highlights include a big upswing in tablet and smartphone sales, as well as a big boost from the enterprise businesses its keeps buying from IBM. At the same time, Lenovo has decided to add Yahoo co-founder (and current Alibaba board member) Jerry Yang to its board, because that's the sort of thing a company does when it's making serious bank.
PS4 sales up to 13.5 million consoles
Sony reported 309.5 billion yen in sales ($2.77 billion) for its Game and Network Services division for the second quarter, ending September 30. It represents an 83.2 percent improvement year-over-year thanks to the continued success of the company's latest home console, PlayStation 4. Shipments for the PS4 have now reached 13.5 million, as the company moved 3.3 million units during the quarter. The Games and Network Services division also posted an operating income of 21.8 billion yen ($195 million), a massive increase compared to the 4.8 billion yen ($43 million) reported in the last quarter and the 4.2 billion yen loss ($37.6 million) year-over-year. While the gaming division thrives, Sony itself is in the red, reporting an 85.6 billion yen operating loss ($766 million). The company increased its loss forecast in September due to its struggling smartphone sales. [Image: Sony]
Take-Two reports slight bump in revenue for Q2
Take-Two reported $126.3 million in revenue for the second quarter (ending September 30), a slight increase compared to the $125.4 million in revenue the publisher reported last quarter. It also represents a 15.1 percent decline compared to the same quarter last year, a period that itself didn't benefit from the launch of GTA 5, but rather The Bureau: XCOM Declassified and Borderlands 2 GOTY. By comparison, Take-Two didn't have many releases in the past quarter, save for three mobile games: Civilization Revolution 2, BioShock and WWE SuperCard. The company also reported a net loss of $41.4 million for the quarter, representing a 66.7 percent improvement year-over-year, yet a 16.9 percent decline from its net losses for the last quarter ($35.4 million). With games like NBA 2K15, WWE 2K15, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Civilization: Beyond Earth arriving during the following quarter, Take-Two increased its non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) net revenue projections from $745 million to $760 million for Q3 2015. [Image: Take-Two]
Nintendo sales jump as Smash Bros. 3DS sells over 3 million
Nintendo posted a profit of 24.2 billion yen ($224 million) in the last quarter, ending September 30, a sizable resurgence for the company following its 9.9 billion yen loss in the previous quarter. The company also reported 96.7 billion yen in net sales ($895 million), a 29.5 percent jump compared to the last quarter. Nintendo's sales increases are thanks in no small part to Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, which sold 3.22 million copies worldwide since its mid-September launch in Japan. Smash Bros. sales coupled well with the 1.27 million 3DS systems shipped for the quarter, bringing the total number of 3DS systems shipped to 45.4 million to date. Nintendo also reported an increase in Wii U hardware shipments to the tune of 100,000 units (610,000 for the quarter), a 19.6 percent boost over the previous three months. That brings the life-to-date shipments of Wii U systems to 7.29 million consoles worldwide. Despite the positive showing for the quarter, Nintendo did not make any adjustments to its forecasts for the fiscal year. [Image: Nintendo]
EA reports 18% drop in revenue, increased projections
Electronic Arts reported $990 million in net revenue for the three-month period ending September 30, the publisher revealed in its second quarter of fiscal 2015 financial results. That represents an 18.5 percent decline from the $1.21 billion in revenue reported in the last quarter, though it's also a 42.4 percent increase year-over-year. EA also posted a net income of $3 million, a massive improvement compared to its $273 million loss reported at the same time last year. While EA's digital revenue slipped 5.2 percent from $536 million to $508 million in the past quarter, it still represents a 12.9 percent increase year-over-year. EA stated back in August that it hopes to earn $1 billion from add-on content this year, and its Ultimate Team sales in the NHL, FIFA and Madden series may continue to help with that. EA reported a 96 percent increase in revenue on a non-GAAP basis (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) from those three series' Ultimate Team modes over the past year. The publisher also adjusted its expectations for the fiscal year (ending March 31, 2015), adding $75 million to its projections to total $4.375 billion. As for the next quarter, EA expects an increase in net revenue during the holiday season to $1.1 billion. EA also revealed the release date for its popular military shooter in the financial report: Battlefield Hardline will launch on March 17, 2015. [Image: EA]
