Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
The gain was short lived, and by the close of trade Sony's market capitalisation was once more greater than Nintendo's - but by less than 1.5 percent.
Investor sentiment seemed to be driven by the success of the Wii and DS, which are significantly outselling Sony's PlayStation 3 and PSP. While the Wii has not challenged the PS3 or Xbox 360 among serious gamers, it has attracted a much wider audience. Wii and DS games also tap into contemporary concerns such as child obesity (the Wiimote is used in many games to encourage whole-body movement rather than merely fast thumbs) and a desire among an aging population to maintain cognitive functions (eg, Brain Training on the DS).
The success of the Wii is likely to encourage game development for the platform, which will in turn make the console more attractive to buyers. But Nintendo won't have things all its own way: Sony recently announced that hundreds of new games for the PS3 would go on sale before the holiday buying season.
Nintendo's market value is in the same league as companies such as Sony and Matsushita (best known for its Panasonic brand), despite having much smaller revenues. The relatively high P/E ratio suggests investors are expecting significant future growth from Nintendo.
David Bass
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