Nintendo reportedly plans to launch new console platforms in emerging markets beginning next year.
President Satoru Iwata told Bloomberg: "We want to make new things, with new thinking rather than a cheaper version of what we currently have. The product and price balance must be made from scratch."
Microsoft recently announced plans to launch Xbox One in China this September after the country lifted a 14-year ban on the sale of foreign game consoles. Meanwhile, the Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia division has opened a newChina Strategy Department.
While Iwata reiterated Nintendo's reluctance to enter the smartphone market on Thursday, he did announce a new near field communication product line called Nintendo Figurine Platform, which is designed to address weaker than expected Wii U and 3DS sales.
"We need to start a new business that will someday become one of our core activities," he said. "What is especially unique about NFP is that it is not classed as an accessory product of a certain software title but as a platform itself."
Nintendo will announce a number of NFP compatible games at E3 in June, and plans to release character figurines with built-in NFC functionality beginning this Christmas season. NFP will be compatible with Wii U software from the end of 2014, and with 3DS software from next year.

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