Nintendo cannot seem to catch a break and now its top executives have announced they will be taking a pay-cut for five months as a result of dismal sales.
According to the Associated Press, Nintendo Co.'s profit dropped 30 percent over the fiscal year's first nine months. Sales of Wii U home consoles, 3DS handheld consoles and game software were weak.
In an effort to soften the blow and take responsibility for the poor sales, Nintendo's president, senior managing director, managing director and directors will lower their pay for five months starting in February.
Satoru Iwata, president, will cut his salary in half. Two representative directors will drop their pay by 30 percent and remaining board members will lower theirs by 20 percent. The next step is show signs of recovery.
"It would be a positive surprise if Nintendo comes out with an online game strategy for smartphones, although the market doesn't expect that move," Tomoaki Kawasaki, senior analyst at IwaiCosmo Securities Co., told the AP.
Nintendo reported Wednesday their profit from April to December was 10.2 billion yen, as opposed to 14.5 billion yen a year earlier. The company has significantly lowered it sales forecast for Wii U consoles from 9 million to 2.8 million units.
"In the fourth quarter, we expect sales to decrease significantly due to seasonal factors as the year-end sales season concludes," Nintendo said in a statement.
According to Forbes, Nintendo sold 1.95 million Wii U consoles over the holiday season, a far cry from the previous year's figure of 3.06 million units. 3DS sales have been a rare bright spot for Nintendo, but their sales figures are lower than the previous year's.
While the pay-cuts will solve very few of Nintendo's problems, the gesture is a public way for the executives to take responsibility. With Sony and Microsoft's lucrative competition in next-gen video game consoles, Nintendo will have to once again find a way to become the third competitor.