Nintendo-1By now I think everyone in the world knows that Nintendo didn’t meet their revenue forecasts, that they had to revise their end of year forecast and that Wii U sales weren’t even close to what they wanted. One of the most surprising things in all this is that Nintendo’s President and CEO Satoru Iwata , is still firmly in place at the ailing company.

There’s been wide speculation as to what the Japanese manufacturer that made the console game system a fixture in the living room, may do. Some site shave published rumors of a next gen console called “fusion”. Others have reported that Nintendo will slash prices again to get more Wii U’s out the door. And of course, others have speculated that the company may start licensing it’s arsenal of popular games, like the Mario franchise (reports Nintendo vehemently denies).

Now we are hearing that Nintendo could consider a merger or an acquisition. Iwata seems to be holding onto his position no matter what the cost. In fact he told The Nikkei that mergers and acquisitions weren’t out of the question, saying, “We should abandon old assumptions about our businesses,” he said. “We are considering M&As as an option. For this reason, we’ll step up share buybacks.” Bloomberg reported that Nintendo is already in the midst of a $1.2B stock buyback.

Despite not having any apps in the iTunes app store, there have been some reports that Nintendo is in talks with Apple for some kind of merger. This may have to do with rumors about gaming coming to the next iteration of Apple TV.

In the meantime, Iwata has some other strategies that will hopefully get the company back on track, “We’ll offer discounts to steady, regular customers. We’ll cultivate emerging markets and launch new businesses in health and other areas.” Escapist Magazine reported.