Nintendo 812.8 Billion Yen (10 Billion USD) Reserve: A help or hindrance?

[JoanMcWench]

I was reading this yesterday & it reminded me of an article I read on gamesradar:
"Buried in reams of financial data is the revelation that Nintendo have 812.8 billion Yen (£6.7/$10.5 billion) in the bank – enough for it to take a 20 billion Yen loss (£163/$257 million) every year until 2052. Then there’s almost 469 billion Yen (£3.8/$6.0 billion) held in premises, equipment and investments. When that runs out – we’re in the year 2075 by this point – they’ve got some of the most valuable intellectual property in gaming to sell off before the company goes out of business."

Which in turn led me to a question I've always had: Does this help or hurt them? Now, you would think it's nothing but helpful. Affording them the time to get things right & explore concepts other companies may not find the time for. But there's the other side of that coin. There's no desperation. No fear driving them to be successful. Do you think this reserve will make NX more or less the console it should be?

 

[crunchyg]

Having too much money in the bank can make a public company an attractive target for hostile takeovers. It also puts pressure on the management from shareholders to either redistribute the cash via dividends or invest it and get a good ROI.

Apple has had this dilemma for years until they recently figured out what to do with the money--and they're now building a car.

 

[pandabear1991]

I am not sure what to think about having too much money in a company. I feel it can ruin the drive of a company, as in, they are in no hurry to make releases (especially not prematurely). But at the same time, it does allow them the time and resources to make a product more flawless and as mentioned, to explore more options. But without the pressure, they are prone to take time with decisions and I would personally rather have a system that doesn't have to be "debugged" or one where I have to wait for a new generation to be released for a better version.

I really wouldn't mind seeing a mobile version of the Wii-U for multi-player car rides, but that's just my suggestion. I am not sure what else I would like to see Nintendo making other than newer technology. Kinda scary when I think about Apple building a car--could be a really good thing though.