Knowing the Wii U’s immediate sales prospects weren’t as great as it had hoped is what prompted Nintendo to recently slash sales projections for the console. Rather than expecting to sell 5.5 million units by the end of March, it was now expecting 4 million units to be sold by that same point. That is a significant cut, and one which meant Nintendo was anticipating just under a million units to sell worldwide in the first three months of 2012 after ending 2012 with 3.06 million units sold.
There was invariably going to be a drop-off as the year started because Nintendo systems sell best around the holidays, but without the excuse of supply constraints, a million consoles in three months didn’t sound great. Now, at least in the United States, the Wii U’s start to the year has been nothing short of abysmal. And while that’s rightfully concerning, Nintendo is not far removed from having dealt with a system that many argued was down for the count before it ever made it to store shelves, which could prove to be useful as it moves forward with Wii U.