The US and Europe is still vital to Nintendo

During the Nintendo investor Q & A, Satoru Iwata took many questions about Nintendo's various struggles with the Wii U launch and also shared some insight about Streetpass DLC and the disappearance of the Vitality Sensor. But a question from an investor about Nintendo's efforts in emerging markets allowed him to shed some light on the company's strategy going forward:

Of course, we value new markets in the emerging countries. We would love to be a cultural bridge connecting children all over the world and providing our new entertainment to people who are not accustomed to playing with video games yet. On the other hand, the fact that the U.S. and the European markets were not favorable up until a few months ago contributed to our less-than satisfactory business performance in the last fiscal year. So we first need to improve these markets, and this should contribute to our overall business performance that can make our shareholders smile. Having said that, although it might be difficult to localize our games in all languages, we believe that in this world, there still remains areas where we can launch our game services in English or Japanese and we will pursue these opportunities with our subsidiaries and agencies.

Looking at the figures - which can be found below - it's clear that Nintendo has struggled to grab a significant market share outside of Japan. Almost eight months after launch, Wii U is facing what can no longer be described as a simple slow start. Meanwhile, though the 3DS is certainly picking up steam, the handheld is still underperforming in Western markets.

Should Nintendo invest more in unfamiliar territory to try and foster growth in these areas to make up for the lackluster performance in the traditional Western nations? Is Nintendo's current strategy the right one? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

[source nintendo.co.jp]