While the Wii U won’t be an instant flop like the Virtual Boy, sales projections released by Nintendo show it probably won’t match the runaway sales success of the original Wii, either. Nintendo sold 3.06 million Wii U units worldwide from its November launch through the end of 2012. That’s nearly as much as the 3.19 million units of the original Wii Nintendo sold back in the 2006 holiday season. But Nintendo doesn’t think it can keep that momentum up. Back in October, the company said it expected to sell 5.5 million Wii U units through the end of March. That number has now been cut down to 4 million, meaning Nintendo expects to sell fewer than a million systems worldwide in the first three months of 2013. It’s natural to expect some sales drop-off as a new system transitions away from a holiday launch.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.