Nintendo expects to sell two-thirds fewer Wii Us than expected

Nintendo has revised its expectations for Wii U sales. Where Nintendo first thought to sell nine million copies in its financial year, ending in March, that expectation has now been adjusted to 2.8 million.

Sales of the Wii U last quarter were disappointing, despite the release of Super Mario 3D World and the fact that competitors Xbox One and Playstation 4 are far from being available worldwide. Where Nintendo previously stuck to a target of nine million Wii Us, it is now set at 2.8 million. In the previous year, when the Wii U came out, Nintendo sold 3.5 million.

The goal of nine million had seemed less achievable for a while: In the first six months of its fiscal year, which ends at the end of March, it sold 460,000 consoles. In the remaining six months, it should therefore sell more than 2.3 million consoles, but how many were sold in the last months of last year, Nintendo would not say.

Due to the lag in sales of the console, Nintendo also earns less from the sale of games. As a result, the expectation for the number of games sold has also been revised downwards. The expectation of the handheld 3DS is also being adjusted, from 18 million copies to 13.5 million. Due to the disappointing sales, the financial figures will also be lower than expected, the company warns.