Nintendo thinking about "new business structure," studying smartphone market

Nintendo is thinking about forming a "new business structure" that could incorporate smartphone initiatives, president Satoru Iwata said today as part of a press conference addressing dismal Wii U sales. It was also during this conference that he vowed not to resign as top executive.

"We are thinking about a new business structure," Iwata said at a press conference today attended by Bloomberg. "Given the expansion of smart devices, we are naturally studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business."

Nintendo has refused to release its tentpole franchises like Mario or Zelda on smartphones because it believes that offering these series on third-party devices would negatively impact the company's ability to sell its own hardware.

Iwata did not elaborate much on the bespoke "new business structure," but pointed out that addressing the smartphone market is "not as simple as enabling Mario to move on a smartphone."

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal's coverage of Iwata's presentation quotes the executive as saying people have fundamentally changed in recent years, and Nintendo must do more to keep its business practices in line with consumer expectation.

"The way people use their time, their lifestyles, who they are--have changed," Iwata said. "If we stay in one place, we will become outdated."

Earlier today, Nintendo slashed Wii U sales projections for the year ending March 2014 from 9 million units to 2.8 million systems, a dramatic 69 percent cutback. The company also pared back sales expectations for the 3DS and downwardly revised its overall financial projections.

The Wii U has sold 3.91 million units worldwide as of September 30.