With its 3DS selling much less than expected and its upcoming Wii U failing to stir fans' excitement, Nintendo's shareholders are starting to doubt the company's direction and asking for drastic change.
According to Stats Investment Management Co.'s Masamitsu Ohki, Nintendo should use the "war chest" of more than $10 billion (collected from the phenomenal success of Wii and DS) to buy its way into the smartphone games market.
"[smartphones] are the new battlefield for the gaming industry," he told Bloomberg, "Nintendo should try to either buy its way into the platform or develop something totally new."
Recent changes in Nintendo's stock price seem to indicate that this shouldn't be brushed off a single analyst's personal opinion. Most evidently, Nintendo shares price jumped 4.9% up instantly after rumors spread that they are creating a Pokemon game for the iPhone. The increase was then reversed almost as quickly as it rose, after the company denied any plans to make smartphone games.
Nintendo refused to comment on the matter, leaving us with a statement issued on July 5th, when it affirmed that its strategy of developing software only for its own hardware "hasn't changed and won't change."
