Nintendo taps 65-year-old human resources head as president

Pavel Alpeyev and Takashi Amano

Nintendo Co. named a 65-year-­old human resources executive as president to lead the company’s long-
awaited push into smartphone gaming and development of its new console.
Tatsumi Kimishima will succeed the late Satoru Iwata, the company said yesterday. Kimishima has worked for the Pokemon Co. and was chief executive officer of Nintendo of America Inc., where he oversaw the U.S. introduction of the Wii console and the 3DS handheld device.
Kimishima faces challenges revitalizing Nintendo, where its business model has been undermined by competitors’ free-to-play games on mobile devices and weak sales of its Wii U machine. Nintendo is set to release its first game service for smartphones this year and is preparing a new console code-named NX.
“It’s a very orthodox choice, which sends a message that the company is choosing to stay the course,” said Mitsushige Akino, executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Co. “Investors expecting growth would have preferred to see some bigger changes. Someone with a direct experience in designing games would have been better.”
Nintendo’s German-traded shares fell 0.7 percent, matching the decline in Tokyo before the announcement. The stock has gained 82 percent this year on expectations the company’s move into smartphones with DeNA Co. will spark sales.
“The basic direction and strategy won’t change,” Kimishima said in comments released by the company. “I will continue along the path set by President Iwata.”
Iwata was the face of Nintendo for 13 years, fronting everything from product announcements to analyst meetings. Iwata, the first president from outside the Yamauchi family since the company was founded in the late 19th century, tripled revenue through new devices and interactive figurines called Amiibo.
The Wii U hasn’t replicated the success of its predecessor against Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox, Sony Corp.’s PlayStation and Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad. The competing devices now sell in China after a ban was lifted, putting the Wii U further behind.
The company last week announced a new Pokemon title that uses a Bluetooth-ready button to interact with characters displayed in the real world. Nintendo has 32 percent of Pokemon’s voting rights.
Nintendo also is working with Universal Parks & Resorts to offer attractions based on its intellectual property.
Nintendo’s revenue has fallen six straight years, dropping to 550 billion yen (USD4.6 billion) in the 12 months ended March 2015. That is less than when Iwata took the role. The company has sold about 10 million units of the Wii U since its introduction in 2012.
Since his death in July from bile duct cancer, the Kyoto-based company has been led by Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Mario and Zelda series, and Genyo Takeda, the architect of the Wii console.
“We thought it’s better that Takeda and Miyamoto manage hardware and software, and I control administration,” Kimishima said. The new system is meant “to bring up the next-generation executives of Nintendo,” he said.
Miyamoto and Takeda will take the roles of “Creative Fellow” and “Technology Fellow,” respectively.
“It’s a collective approach to leadership,” said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute in Tokyo. “Kimishima’s executive experience in the U.S. means he has an understanding of that very large market.” Pavel Alpeyev and Takashi Amano, Bloomberg