Nintendo announced it plans on introducing a new kind of game consoles and software for emerging markets as early as next year, according to a report by Reuters.
The decision to introduce at least one new console was made to capitalize on higher entertainment budgets amidst a growing middle class.
Nintendo will develop hardware and games oriented towards consumers with lower incomes and less gaming experience than those in more developed companies, said President and CEO of Nintendo Co. Satoru Iwata, according to Reuters.
The company is looking for new business opportunities as it seeks to stem on losses on its most recent home game console, the Wii U, which has performed miserably compared to rivals like Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One, according to Reuters.
There were no plans to launch existing hardware like the Wii U or 3DS in emerging markets, including China, according to Satoru.
"It would be difficult to enter those markets if we didn't create something new. For the mass market you need to provide something that most of the middle class can afford," Satoru said in an interview following an analyst briefing this week.
Iwata failed to elaborate on the specifications and design of a new device, and failed to specify the counties where it would be sold. He confirmed that "emerging markets" whose gaming potential had not yet been cracked, would receive new devices.
Iwata said that Nintendo will try a different strategy than Microsoft Corp.
The U.S. company said month said it would start selling its Xbox One console through a Chinese partner from September in Shanghai's free trade zone once the government officially lifted a ban on the sale of foreign consoles, according to Reuters.
"We think the Chinese market has a lot of potential, but I don't think the lifting of the ban has solved all of the difficulties in entering it. We need to study it more," Iwata said.
"For us, Microsoft's approach wouldn't work," he added.
The company said it will release figurines of some of its popular Nintendo characters in time for Christmas 2014. The company hopes the figurines, which will be able to send and receive data from games, will "stimulate software sales," according to Reuters.
Nintendo shares closed 0.7 percent lower today (May 8) compared to a 0.9 percent rise in the benchmark Nikkei index.
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