Swot analysis of Nintendo. Nintendo Co. Ltd is a video game and consumer electronics Japanese multinational company. Fusajiro Yamauchi was the founder of Nintendo, and he laid the foundation of the company on September 23, 1889. The headquarter of the company is in Minami-Ku, Kyoto, Japan.
Nintendo’s main products and services are;
- E-shop,
- Hardware,
- Mobile devices,
- Handhelds,
- Wii,
- Nintendo switches,
- Home Console,
- Arcade,
- Toys
- Cars,
- Game Console.
According to an estimate, the annual revenue of Nintendo in 2022 was 8.364 billion dollars, and it has increased by 70.09%. Out of which, the net income of the video game/consumer electronic company was 2.750 billion dollars. However, the company has employed more than 6,717 employees to manage its operations.
Nintendo’s top competitors are;
- Disney Interactive,
- Zynga,
- Samsung,
- Crescent Moon Games,
- Panasonic,
- Rockstar,
- Activision,
- SEGA,
- Ubisoft,
- Activision Blizzard,
- Electronic Art,
- Lego,
- Amazon,
- Microsoft,
- Google,
- Sony.
Today, we’ll discuss the swot analysis of Nintendo. It’s going to analyze the internal and external factors impacting the world’s leading consumer electronics and Video Game companies. Here’s the swot analysis of Nintendo as follows;
Strengths of Nintendo
Alliance & Partnership
Nintendo has recently made an alliance with Disney for the mutual benefit and growth and development of gaming products. Both companies are well-reputed; the partnership would serve them both.
Marketing
Nintendo has learned a lesson and realized the significance of effective marketing strategies after the failure of the U console. The company used the slogan “play great content, anywhere, anytime with anyone” for the marketing of switch, and they became successful and widely popular.
Mixed Sales
Nintendo uses both channels; online and retail stores for the sale of its product. However, the company makes sure that the customers would buy the product easily. According to an estimate, the company sold more than 50% of its products online during the pandemic crisis in 2020.
Pricing Strategy
Nintendo charges premium prices from its customers when it launches the product in the market, then gradually decreases the prices once it attracts enough customers. This pricing strategy allows the company to cover the initial research and development cost.
Diversified Market
Nintendo has diversified its geographical market into different regions and those regions work independently, and it’s to lower the risk factor. For instance, Nintendo has divided its operation into 3 categories; Richmond, Frankfurt, and Kyoto. It helps the company to earn profit from the most lucrative market.
Experience
Nintendo has been in the gaming industry for more than 130 years. The company has the experience and expertise to handle different types of gaming challenges and offer the best gaming product to customers.
Product Portfolio
Nintendo has launched various types of games in the market over the years ranging from educational, sports, races, role-playing, simulation, gaming strategy, and puzzles to adventure. It’s to target different types of gamers relevant to their interests and moods. However, the Animal Crossing game attracted more than 11 million people to play the virtual reality game on the island during the lockdown in 2020.
Distribution System
Nintendo has established an efficient distribution system and it delivers gaming consoles all over the world from Frankfurt to Richmond and Kyoto to Melbourne. It helped the company to increase sale and market share by delivering the products timely in the markets.
Brand Value
According to an estimate by Interbrand, the brand value of Nintendo in 2022 was 10.676 million dollars, and it has increased by 16%. The gaming brand ranked 68th position in the Best Global Brands in 2020. However, the market capitalization of Nintendo in 2020 was 49.7 billion dollars, and is ranked at the 87th position of the World’s Most Valuable Brands according to Forbes.
Weaknesses of Nintendo
Defective Product
Nintendo’s Wii U console model was defective and it had a cheaper quality and high price. Therefore, it flopped miserably in the market and a bad reputation for the company. Most importantly, it jeopardized the brand name.
Slow Response
The pandemic crisis has amplified the usage of video games because people are at home due to the lockdown and shutdown of businesses. Nintendo couldn’t meet the high demand for Switch and the company couldn’t meet the shortage. The company needs to work on its supply chain
Depending on Western Markets
Developed countries like Europe, North America, South Korea, Australia, and Japan are the major markets for Nintendo. They’ve become saturated due to the higher competition. Overdependence on these markets would be highly risky.
Relying on Switch
The switch is the prominent selling product of Nintendo and they contribute 85% of the company’s total revenue. If its sale drops somehow, then it would have a huge negative impact on the sale.
Opportunities available to Nintendo
Diversifying Portfolio
It’s no doubt Nintendo has a vast product portfolio, but the company could further diversify its portfolio by adding more software as service and video games to retain customers.
Virtual Reality
Augmented reality and virtual reality games are growing trends in the gaming industry. Nintendo should improve the quality of its virtual reality games so that the customers would have a better experience of playing games.
Mobile Games
The trend of mobile and online games is growing among teenagers and youngsters, and it would reach approximately 95.4 billion dollars by the end of 2022. It presents a great opportunity for Nintendo to launch more interesting and speedy mobile games to target mobile gamers.
Developing Markets
Developed countries Japan, Europe, Canada, UK, and the USA are the major markets of Nintendo. Now, the gaming company should shift its focus to emerging markets like India, China, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.
Threats Nintendo has t face
Tech Revolution
Tech giant companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, and many other startup companies have entered the gaming industry. They all are working on the development of innovative ideas and that would give them a competitive advantage in terms of market share and sales. It puts the whole business of Nintendo in great jeopardy.
Demographic Change
Europe is the major market for Nintendo and the increasing aging population is a severe issue in some of the European countries. It means a lower younger population and youngsters are the target demographic of Nintendo’s games. Therefore, the shift in demographics is impacting the company’s business.
Substitutes
Online mobile games have become a great substitute for Nintendo’s gaming console. They have significantly declined the sale of consoles.
Healthy Trends
Many millennial parents consider playing video games addiction and injurious to health. They prefer their kids to be involved in outdoor healthy activities. The healthier trends have reduced the demand for video games in the market.
Piracy
Piracy websites like torrent and imitation games are a great threat to business of Nintendo. The piracy attempts have increased with the growth and development of technology.
Competitors
King, SEGA, CCP Games, Zynga, Activision Blizzard, Rovio, electronic art, Facebook, Ubisoft, BenQ, LG Electronics, Pioneer, Amazon, Google, Xbox, Apple, and Play Station are some of the main competitors of Nintendo. Their presence in the gaming industry makes it difficult for the company to compete.
Conclusion: Nintendo Swot Analysis Example Company
After a careful study of the swot analysis of Nintendo, we’ve concluded that Nintendo is indeed the world’s leading video gaming company. Piracy, health and exercise trends, substitute products, and defective switches are some of the main challenges. Nintendo should utilize its resources to expand its portfolio by adding VR/AR games in order to address these issues; while keeping in mind the internal strengths weaknesses; external opportunities threats of swot analysis example company.
Ahsan Ali Shaw is an accomplished Business Writer, Analyst, and Public Speaker. Other than that, he’s a fun loving person.