“We have various ideas in mind for collaboration on the character licensing business across Japan, North America and Europe.”
☆ NintendObs Event – Nintendo’s 2015 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.
Question:
Do you plan to be more proactive in releasing character-related merchandise or figures? For instance, Pokémon characters like Ash, May, Misty, Iris, Serena and Dawn are very popular all around the world, and they would surely be profitable for Nintendo as merchandise or figures. Or even if you don’t make the merchandise or figures yourself, you could collaborate with external companies to make new discoveries or growth.
Answer:
Iwata:
This answer overlaps with what I discussed in my answer about IP utilization earlier, but it would be a stretch to say that Nintendo was proactive in making merchandise in the past. We have been discussing internally that we should be more proactive, and it is imperative that we establish a global structure to deploy such business all around the world. As a large proportion of our sales come from outside Japan, we have various ideas in mind for collaboration on the character licensing business across Japan, North America and Europe. And this expansion won’t be limited to merchandise; it may take various forms including, for example, images or even movies or TV programs. Even though I am not sure of the actual forms, it is safe to say that in addition to profitable licensing businesses, Nintendo will take risks we believe are worthwhile. On the other hand, not a small number of businesses have ended up with a pile of leftover stock after a particular product’s short-lived period of popularity. It would surely ruin the value of Nintendo IP and would not enhance corporate value over the long term if we chose this path. Therefore, I would like to recap that our current plan is not to simply increase the number of proposals but to be more proactive than in the past by making appropriate decisions that will enhance our overall corporate value over the long term.
— The 75th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders
Source: Nintendo JP.
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