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 The death of the hands-on CEO and president, announced by Nintendo
on Monday, comes at a critical time for the company which is betting
that its new smartphone tie-up with online game maker DeNA will help
make up for declining console sales.
Iwata long resisted investors' calls to move into mobile games for
fear of cannibalizing Nintendo's traditional console base. He
announced the move in March as stiff competition from console rivals
and mobile games continued to drag on sales.
The company did not announce a replacement but Genyo Takeda, senior
managing director and one of the lead developers of Nintendo's Wii
console, will lead the committee for Iwata's funeral - a sign he
could be taking on the leadership role.
"They say it's not yet decided who the next CEO will be, so there's
a slight uncertainty," Japan Asia Securities deputy general manager
Mitsuo Shimizu said. "This comes just as we saw a glimmer of hope
for the company."
Nintendo has forecast it would double annual operating profit in the
year through March thanks to the DeNA tie-up.
Despite some concerns over succession, Kyoto-based Nintendo's shares
rose 1.49 percent, in line with the broader Tokyo market <.TOPX>.
Deutsche Bank analyst Hanjoon Kim maintained a "buy" rating on the
shares and said Takeda and other long-serving board members would
likely ensure stability.
GAMER AT HEART
Takatoshi Itoshima, chief portfolio manager at Commons Asset
Management, said the main task for the next CEO would be to carry
out Iwata's smartphone project.
"The next goal for the management is to carry this on,” he said.
Takeda and fellow senior managing director Shigeru Miyamoto, creator
of the Mario and Donkey Kong hit games, will be the sole remaining
representative directors.
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Iwata had surgery in June last year to remove a growth in his bile
duct and had returned to work. He attended an annual shareholders'
meeting on June 26, but his condition suddenly deteriorated in the
last few days, Nintendo said.
Iwata's main legacy was broadening the appeal of video games with
the bestselling Wii, which included fitness titles and fantasy
battles. Gaming fans took to Twitter to mourn his death, and even
rival Sony Corp's <6758.T> PlayStation account said: "Thank you for
everything, Mr. Iwata."
Iwata, who became president in 2002 at the relatively young age of
42, was the first CEO from outside the founding Yamauchi family.
Hooked on computer programming in high school, Iwata told developers
he was a "gamer at heart". In his later years, though, he came under
pressure from investors amid competition from Sony and Microsoft and
a shift in casual gamers to smartphones.
(Additional reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Yoshiyuki Osada and Ayai
Tomisawa; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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