This may have passed by the radar of most gamers and news outlets, but it’s no less newsworthy. Nintendo’s plans for the coming years include entering emerging markets, possibly with new products.
Iwata has been talking about this since an investor’s meeting Nintendo held July of last year. Iwata expressed interest in entering these countries then, but they felt they had to improve their standing in their primary markets first. More after the link.
And yes, Iwata has changed his tune. In a more recent interview, he now expressly talks about entering emerging markets as one of their upcoming strategies. He also points out that they know they can only make progress in these emerging markets with products at a different price point than what they currently offer to existing gaming markets.
Could Nintendo be planning to offer completely new products? Or will they resell the Wii and DS? Alternatively, they could find a way to shave off the price on the Wii U and 3DS even more (2DS is already quite cheap) and offer those. As for emerging markets, they must almost definitely be looking at China, as well as South Africa, SouthEast Asia, etc. The opportunity is definitely there if Nintendo gets it just right.
