Nintendo Q1 profit up 32 pct on Wii demand

Nintendo Co Ltd's quarterly profit rose 31.5% on the runaway success of its Wii game console, but the Japanese video game maker kept its annual outlook well short of market expectations.
The Wii, launched in late 2006, continued to enjoy strong demand worldwide thanks to its easy-to-learn motion-sensing controller, low price and innovative titles such as the "Wii Fit" exercise game.
It outsold Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360, putting Nintendo in the leading position in a three-way game console battle.
April-June operating profit at Nintendo, creator of iconic game characters such as Mario and Zelda, rose to 119.19 bln yen ($1.10 bln) from 90.63 bln yen a year earlier.
Net profit rose 33.7% to 107.27 bln yen on sales of 423.38 bln yen, up 24.4%.
Sales of the Wii jumped 51% to 5.17 mln units in the latest quarter, far outpacing PS3 sales of 1.56 mln units and Xbox 360 shipments of 1.3 mln units during the same period.
Since the November 2006 launches of the Wii and PS3, shares in Nintendo have more than doubled while Sony shares lost 12%.
At $76 bln, Nintendo's market value is now twice as big as Sony's.
Nintendo, however, saw sales of its DS game machine dip to 6.94 mln units in April-June from 6.98 mln a year earlier, underlining slowing momentum for its handheld player.
Sony sold 3.72 mln units of its PlayStation Portable handheld machine in April-June.
For the year to March, Nintendo kept its operating profit forecast of 530 bln yen, up 8.8% on the year, but below a consensus of 597.1 bln yen in a poll of 20 analysts by Reuters Estimates.
Unlike many other industry sectors, the video game market has been little affected by economic slowdown, soaring oil prices and sluggish consumer spending, and industry executives hope that demand will hold strong through the critical holiday season.
The industry is forecast to reach $57 bln in revenues this year, according to research firm DFC Intelligence.
In a move to further stir up Wii demand, Nintendo earlier this month unveiled "Wii Music," which lets players simulate more than 60 different instruments, taking itself into the fast-growing software segment pioneered by Activision Blizzard's "Guitar Hero."
Ahead of the results, shares in Nintendo closed up 3.6% at 57,600 yen, outperforming the benchmark Nikkei average, which rose 1.6%.
The stock lost 16.9% this year through Tuesday, while the Nikkei slid 14%.