Nintendo in Peril: January Wii U Sales Spell Trouble
Shelly Palmer
Nintendo now faces the very real prospect of having an absolute flop on its hands. As Microsoft moved an estimated 281,000 Xbox 360 consoles in the U.S. in January to take the top spot for the 25th consecutive month, Gamasutra reports that Nintendo sold “well under” 100,000 Wii U consoles last month. The site estimates that sales may have fallen between 45,000 and 59,000 units in January, which could mark the worst month for a Nintendo console since before the original Wii launched. This is not the first sign of trouble for Nintendo’s Wii U. The new console has not been well received in the U.S., U.K. or even in Japan, and Nintendo recently lowered its first-quarter outlook as a result. With Sony (SNE) set to unveil its next-generation PlayStation 4 next week and Microsoft prepping a new Xbox console, the door is quickly closing on Nintendo’s latest effort.
