Wed, Jul 04, 2012 | 16:00 BST

3DS sales “currently weak” in Europe and NA – Nintendo president

The sales momentum of the 3DS in Europe and North America is “currently weak,” Nintendo has confessed.

During a meeting with the company’s shareholders, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata admitted 3DS was struggling outside Japan.

“While the Nintendo 3DS has a certain degree of sales momentum in Japan, the momentum in the US and Europe is currently weak,”

“Considering that the US and European markets are larger than the Japanese market in terms of the size of the population, sales in the US and Europe are supposed to be larger.”

At the start of the year, the 3DS averaged 83,000 units sold per week, a momentum which it’s managed to uphold, according to Iwata.

“Sales of the Nintendo 3DS are constant in Japan and in fact we could say the sales volume is exceeding our forecast at the start of this fiscal year.”

However, Iwata admitted things weren’t so pretty when it came to Europe and North America.

“The sales proportion of the Nintendo 3DS is now about 20 percent of the total video game sales in those markets. Thus, solid sales momentum has not been created.

“For those investors who understand this situation, they might think that our earnings situation will not turn around in the way we have mentioned, or they might think it will take a much longer time than we expect to revitalise the profit situation.”

Nintendo recently announced 3DS XL.

Thanks, EG.

5 comments

#1

polygem
04/07/12, 6:31 pm

sad. the best handheld on the market and overall a great device. it has some awesome games.

#2

daytripper
04/07/12, 6:37 pm

Perhaps another cut this winter? It’s a great little handheld, StarFox 64 3D is great fun

#3

manamana
04/07/12, 6:59 pm

Most casuals are happy with their smartphones and tablets. Another bunch is still enjoying DSi. The sales will grow once the holiday season sales begins. I have sold my 3DS … and preordered the XL version. Cannot wait to play Kart7 and Revelations on the bigger screen!

#4

monkeygourmet
04/07/12, 7:28 pm

Hear hear…

Just waiting for the xl to replace my 3ds. Been absolutely loving all the classics plus all the the DS games I missed, castlevania, mario RPGs etc…

It’s easily the best handheld ever, and really, if you want to relive the glory days of the SNES / Mega Drive, you have to get one! :)

#5

polygem
04/07/12, 7:40 pm

totally agree. with everyone :D
preordered the red 3ds xl as well. cannot wait for it. sold my current 3ds already which kinda sucks because i really miss it so much! after a hard days work and a long bike tour to and off from work, i often do not feel like playing a competitive halo match anymore. there´s nothing like lying on the bed playing some awesome 3ds games for a while. it´s relaxing and fun. thx for that nintendo. i will survive the wait somehow (dsi helps). i love the 3ds already, with the bigger screen it will be even more awesome. i have a dsi xl too. the bigger screen is great on that one- no matter what the haters say.

Leave a Reply