Nintendo Wii U Sales Fall: Not Even the the Gaming Company's President's Son Wants the Console
The Nintendo Wii U was not the biggest contender in 2013's console war. Last week, the company announced its disappointing numbers.
On Friday, Satoru Iwata, Nintendo President, released a statement on the state of the company after the Wii U's disappointing 2013 performance.
"Wii U sales ... fell short of our targeted recovery by a large margin," the statement said. "In particular, sales in the U.S. and European markets in which we entered the year-end sales season with a hardware markdown were significantly lower than our original forecasts, with both hardware and software sales experiencing a huge gap from their targets."
Iwata noted that the company did not plan for the Wii U to see a markdown in the United States and Europe, which also resulted in "lower sales and profit estimates."
Nintendo has shrunk its sales forecast for the Wii U from 9 million to 2.8 million during the fiscal year, which is from April 2013 until March. The company also expects an operating loss of 35 billion yen, representing a major change from its previous 100 billion profit and its third consecutive year of loss.
Meanwhile, Nintendo's stock has dropped today.
"The stock opened some 19% lower in early trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange before recovering somewhat to settle at Y13,050, or 11 % down, at the end of the morning session," Variety reports. "It was the most heavily traded stock on the TSE in the early session."
According to Iwata, "The company appears to have failed to differentiate the Wii U from the Wii."
Even Iwata's 10-year-old-son is not interested in the Wii U, New York Post reports.
Neither Iwata nor any other major executives will lose their jobs as a result of the tough year.
"There will be no major management shake-up in the short term," Iwata said.