Nintendo revealed its Consolidated Results for the Nine Months Ended December 2015 and 2016 report which revealed that the Pokémon franchise significantly helped Nintendo's fiscal results. From November 18th, 2016 to December 31st, 2016, Pokémon Sun and Moon sold a combined 14.69 million units worldwide.

Consolidated Operating Results

During the nine months ended December 31, 2016, the worldwide release of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon generated buzz and led to blockbuster sales of 14.69 million units. In addition, Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS surpassed the million-seller mark. The release of the smart device application Pokémon GO led to increased sales of software in the Pokémon series released in the past and drove Nintendo 3DS family hardware sales growth, particularly outside of Japan. The worldwide sales volume for Nintendo 3DS hardware this period was 6.45 million units (10% increase on a year-on-year basis), while Nintendo 3DS software sales were 46.78 million units (20% increase on a year-on-year basis).

Source: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2017/170131e.pdf

THE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCES RECORD-BREAKING UK SALES FOR POKÉMON TRADING CARDS AND TOYS

London, UK— January 24, 2017 —The Pokémon Company International announced today that Pokémon has achieved record-breaking sales figures at retail in the UK throughout 2016, for its Trading Card Game (TCG) and toys from master toy partner TOMY, as reported by the NPD Group.

According to figures recorded by the NPD Group Toys retail tracking service, the Pokémon property recorded a 285% increase in sales throughout 2016 against market growth of 6% in the whole UK toy market. In the last three months, October to December, Pokémon increased sales by 512% versus the 7.7% market growth.

Also, in the Christmas week, Pokémon TCG smashed through the one million pounds sterling barrier, achieving retail sales of £1.29m in a seven-day period, a 733.7% increase on the previous year.

Mathieu Galante, Senior Market Development Manager for The Pokémon Company International, said: “Thanks to the activities celebrating Pokémon’s 20th year, plus the huge impact of our video game releases, interest in the brand has escalated, ensuring figures for TCG and toy sales have been incredible. We fully expect that demand for the product will remain high throughout 2017 as new expansions are introduced to tie in with our new Nintendo 3DS games Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon.”

Steve Buckmaster Managing Director of Esdevium Games - UK distributor of the Pokémon TCG - said: “We are delighted to announce these sensational figures just ahead of Toy Fair and look forward to talking to our retail partners at the show about ways that we can keep the phenomenal demand going. We are very excited about our first Pokémon TCG: Sun & Moon expansion, which will be released in February.”

Camilla MacQueen, UK Brand Manager at TOMY Europe said: “We’re excited to be part of Pokémon’s fantastic achievement. We’re expecting 2017 to be another huge year for Pokémon and we’re looking forward to unveiling two new product lines at Toy Fair London that will appeal to collectors of all ages.”

The global phenomenon of Pokémon was first launched in Japan in 1996 as a role-playing game for Nintendo’s Game Boy system and reached the United States and Europe in 1998–99. The first generation of Pokémon games introduced the original 151 Pokémon. Today the Pokémon universe includes more than 800 Pokémon that players can catch, trade, and battle against their opponents in the quest to become the best Pokémon Trainer.

Pokémon has since grown into one of the most popular entertainment properties in the world. It is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time, with more than 279 million video games sold worldwide. In addition, 21.5 billion TCG cards have been shipped to 74 countries in 11 languages, and over 450,000 players take part in Pokémon events every year. There are also more than 900 episodes of the animated TV series, now starting its 20th season.

Nintendo Co., Ltd. released their Consolidated Results for the Years Ended March 31, 2014 and 2015 report which revealed that Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire has enjoyed "robust sales" with 9.94 million units sold. They still trail behind Pokémon X and Y by about 3 million copies as X and Y have reached 13.85 milllion units sold.

Source: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2015/150507e.pdf

According to the May 2015 Issue of License! Global Top 150 Global Licensors, The Pokémon Company International is now selling over $2 billion USD a year in licensed products worldwide and it is the 34th highest selling licensed brand in the world. The reason for this significant milestone is due to the fact that the company has now sold over 270 million video games, 21.5 billion TCG cards and the Pokémon Anime VOD sales are thriving on services like Netflix, Hulu, iTunes and Amazon.


Source: http://images2.advanstar.com/PixelMags/license-global/digitaledition/05-2015-top150.html#16

Over the past two days, Nintendo has released their earnings reports: Corporate Management Policy Briefing / Second Quarter Financial Results Briefing for the 75th Fiscal Term Ending March 2015 - Outline & Company President's Presentation and Earnings Release: Six Months Ended September 30, 2014. In the reports, there are some interesting figures for the current generation of Pokémon games on the Nintendo 3DS.

Nintendo announced that global sales of Pokémon X and Y have reached 13.3 million. For comparison, the last games of Generation 5 Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 sold a total of only 7.81 million. Unfortunately, pre-order sales for ORAS are down in Japan compared with XY but are on par in North America and ahead in Europe.

Nintendo stated: "While ORAS, being remakes, were never expected to get the kind of sales XY did, the attitude towards our current promotional phase seemingly betrays our expectations in a very positive way. The company thought of an interesting explanation for why it is this way, called the "Ruby/Sapphire Generation Hypothesis (スマブラ・ルビサファ同世代仮説)" factor".

The reason behind the lower pre-order sales can be attributed to one of Japan's key demographics, the 18 to 25 year old's which represents about 30% of the Nintendo 3DS market whereas it only represents 5% of the market in the United States and Europe. Many in this demographic were in elementary school when the games Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire (ポケットモンスター ルビー&サファイア) were released. If this key demographic plays a significant role in the sales in Japan due to the nostalgic Ruby/Sapphire Generation Hypothesis will not be known until sales figures are recorded but regardless, ORAS is still on pace to sell millions of copies worldwide.


In its report, Nintendo stated: "We expect to expand sales in the year-end sales season with “Pokémon Omega Ruby” and “Pokémon Alpha Sapphire” to be released globally in November, and a number of key titles from third-party publishers."

Sources: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2014/141029e.pdf, http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/141030summary/index.html and http://www.inside-games.jp/article/2014/10/30/82066.html