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Nintendo only managed to sell 160,000 Wii U console units in the quarter ended June 30, 2013, the platform holder announced as part of its financial results.
The figure comprised of 90,000 units in Japan, 60,000 units in the Americas, and only 10,000 units in Europe and other territories.
Nintendo blamed the lack of first-party titles released “this quarter to strongly drive the hardware sales”.
It added: “For the Wii U system, we will attempt to concentrate on pro-actively releasing key first-party titles from the second half of this year through next year to regain momentum for the platform.
“Starting with Pikmin 3, which was released in Japan and Europe in July and will be released in the United States in August, we plan on releasing key titles such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Wii Party U, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Super Mario 3D World, and Wii Fit U.
“Moreover, Nintendo strives to improve the sales by communicating the compelling nature of our hardware and software to as many people as possible through our new network service called Miiverse, which offers an environment where people can empathise with others and share their gaming experiences. We also strive to improve hardware profitability by reducing costs.”
Lifetime sales of the Wii U now stand at 3.61 million units. Nintendo says it has made no change to its forecast to sell nine million Wii U consoles in the year which ends March 31, 2014.
Wii U software sales for the quarter were only 1.03 million units.
3DS performed better, moving 1.4 million hardware units and 11 million software units, whilst the Wii outsold the Wii U with 210,000 hardware units.
Whilst hardware sales will no doubt improve as we move closer to the holiday season, the system will have to compete against the introduction of the PS4 and Xbox One, plus cut priced offers on the still popular PS3 and Xbox 360.
Source: Consolidated Financial Highlights
