Nintendo Wii U sales slump to just 160,000 worldwide for Q1
There’s still no silver lining on the cloud that is Nintendo’s Wii U console, as the company’s Q1 2013/2014 financial results, revealed today, show that the company have managed to shift just 160,000 Wii U machines over the past three months globally.
Managing just 3,610,000 sales since launch, the three month period that coincided with the announcement of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 next-gen consoles has been the slowest quarter for the console since becoming available.
In a worrying comparison, even the ageing original Wii is outselling the Wii U, managing 210,000 sales over the same period.
Proving that even after a shaky start there’s still the chance for redemption however is the Nintendo 3DS handheld range, which is going from strength to strength. 1,400,000 of the 3D handhelds were sold during the quarter, with the new large-screened 3DS XL accounting for 990,000 of the sales.
Nintendo’s net sales, combining software and hardware sales, accrued 81.5 billion yen (£548.3 million), a slight drop on Q1 2012’s 84.8 billion yen. Net income rises from a loss of 17.2 billion over the same period last year to an 8.6 billion yen profit for this quarter. Operating income is still a loss however of 4.9 billion yen.
A strong software line-up this Christmas, which includes Zelda and Mario titles, is hoped by Nintendo to boost the Wii U’s fortunes during what is expected to be the most highly competitive Christmas for games retail in almost a decade.
