Mad Catz Q2 revs jump, losses mount

Peripheral manufacturer sees sales grow 53 percent thanks to increased current-gen accessory adoption, but earnings take plunge into the red.

Software and hardware may receive the lion's share of attention, but gaming accessories are experiencing their own boom as the industry continues its (mostly) steady march toward double-digit year-over-year growth. As one of the largest accessory-oriented companies serving the gaming industry, Mad Catz is pulling in scratch hand over paw.

Reporting its second-quarter results this week, the peripherals manufacturer said that revenues for the July-September period had spiked 53 percent from a year ago, to $25.8 million. As a result, Mad Catz realized company-best gross-profit margins, which rose 56 percent to $7.7 million. Nevertheless, net income remained in the red, with the peripheral company's losses totaling $1.3 million. That negative growth can be attributed in large part to expenditures in marketing, sales, and general administration costs.

Mad Catz called out a number of factors that led to its sales windfall during the quarter. Current-generation accessories--that is, peripherals created for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii--now amount to 42 percent of the company's total sales, and surpassed revenue generated by products for the previous generation of consoles.

Although the rhythm genre may be showing signs of consumer fatigue, Mad Catz also touted the fact that it had begun shipping the Fender Precision Bass guitar for the Xbox 360. During the quarter, Mad Catz also said that it had entered into a licensing agreement with Nintendo to create a line of Rock Band peripherals for the Wii.

9 Comments

  • joshua05

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 3:56 pm PT

    This is not great news to hear. I like there products and hope them the best of luck.

  • Gamer4Iife

    Posted Nov 23, 2008 2:21 pm PT

    I can't believe people are still buying MadCatz accessories... Talk about misinformed.

  • jazzyrider

    Posted Nov 20, 2008 6:25 am PT

    i agree with the 1st post- sure their products aren't great but i don't want them going out of business because it keeps prices low for accessory area.

  • mjc0961

    Posted Nov 20, 2008 6:12 am PT

    Mad Catz isn't out of business yet? All their products are crap, so it probably won't be long now.

  • Arch649

    Posted Nov 19, 2008 10:39 pm PT

    The last few things I bought from them. The Rock Band P-Bass controller and the Cymbal set, are great.

  • Media_Mind

    Posted Nov 19, 2008 8:08 pm PT

    don't know what to feel

  • WhiteSnake5000

    Posted Nov 19, 2008 7:54 pm PT

    Madcatz was always a great brand for me as far as buying video cables goes (19.99 for their Wii Component cable) a lot better than paying 34.99 for Nintendo's cable that doesn't look any better. I've never really tried their controllers or anything like that, but still, it's too bad that it's not going good for them.

  • Lucidmike78

    Posted Nov 19, 2008 6:58 pm PT

    I never cared for their style of design, and prefer Logitech stuff because their stuff always looks professional albeit a little plain at times. Sorry, I don't need my racing wheel to look like it fell off a monster sized robotic cat.

  • ColdfireTrilogy

    Posted Nov 19, 2008 6:54 pm PT

    Hmm ... as much as i dont like them i dont want them doing bad. They keep prices down in other sectors of the market.

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