Nintendo's Resilient Results: Tears of the Kingdom, the Mario Movie, and Market Values

Originally published 2023-08-08Robin's commentary

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English translation of the Chinese post originally published 2023-08-08. Translated 2026-10-25 with AI assistance. Historical figures and claims have not been updated or independently verified. 中文原文

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Robin reviews Nintendo's April–June 2023 results. Even near the end of the Switch's product cycle, quarterly hardware sales reached 3.9 million units, up year over year, helped by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom selling 18.51 million copies in under two months. The Super Mario Bros. Movie also generated US$1.357 billion in worldwide box office from a US$100 million budget. In simple terms, hit games lift hardware sales, while movies reconnect adults and introduce children to the intellectual property. His added market-value comparison is striking: Nintendo at ¥8 trillion, Sony at ¥16.36 trillion, and Panasonic at ¥4.03 trillion. Panasonic was worth only half as much as Nintendo. Times really are changing. Market values reflect August 2023.

Key points

Near the end of its cycle, Switch still sold 3.9 million units in a quarter, helped by 18.51 million Tears of the Kingdom copies in two months.
The Mario movie generated US$1.357 billion in global box office on a US$100 million budget.
A flywheel: games lift hardware sales, while movies broaden the audience for the intellectual property.
Panasonic's market value was only half Nintendo's—a sign of changing times.

Columns and beams in an open building are connected by central rods and balanced weights, suggesting structure and checks in governance. — Capital markets & governanceThematic illustration · AI generated

Full text — English translation

Nintendo has released its financial report for April–June 2023. Even though Switch is nearing the end of its product cycle, reported sales reached 3.9 million units, up from 3.43 million in the same period last year. Credit goes to Tears of the Kingdom, which sold 18.51 million copies in less than two months and entered Nintendo's top ten best-selling games. Then there is The Super Mario Bros. Movie. This animated film, with a US$100 million budget, has reached US$1.357 billion in worldwide box office. Simply put, hit games help lift hardware sales. The animated film lets more adults revisit their memories of the Mario brothers and introduces more children to the Mario intellectual property, while also bringing in enormous box-office revenue. ---- Nintendo market capitalization: ¥8 trillion. Capcom market capitalization: ¥1.64 trillion. SEGA market capitalization: ¥718 billion. Square Enix market capitalization: ¥681 billion. Sony market capitalization: ¥16.36 trillion. Panasonic market capitalization: ¥4.03 trillion. What surprises me most is that Panasonic's market value is only half Nintendo's... Times really are changing.

These articles are personal notes, book excerpts, and collected reprints. Figures and events reflect the time of the original publication, are not current information, and do not constitute investment advice.

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