Nintendo Surpasses Canon as Japan's Second Most Valuable Company

After vaulting past Sony this summer in terms of stock value, Nintendo today continued its conquest of the Japanese market by beating out Canon to become the no. 2 most valuable company in the country.

Nintendo shares closed up 3 percent at 59,200 yen on Tuesday, according to Reuters, bringing the company's total market value to a whopping 8.39 trillion yen (about 69,844,596,000 U.S. dollars). That beats out Canon by about 27 billion yen.

As you might suspect, Nintendo owes these gains mainly to Wii's continued dominance in the console market, as well as to the success its had with the DS over the years. "Nintendo shares have more than quadrupled over the past two years," Reuters says, "initially boosted by strong demand for the DS, then by brisk sales of the Wii." In the period between April and June, the company managed to sell 3.4 million Wiis and 7 million DSs. Sony, on the other hand, sold just 710,000 units of its PS3 and 2 million PSPs.

At this rate, Nintendo may even be giving Toyota -- Japan's most valuable company -- a run for its money in a few years. Indeed, with analysts predicting continued demand for the Wii during the upcoming holiday season, the unceasing Mario butt stomping Nintendo is giving other companies seems poised to continue indefinitely.