Nintendo sold a record low quantity of Wii U consoles from April through June, but strong 3DS hardware and software sales and a favorable exchange rate helped it come through with a profit. The Japanese company released its first quarter 2014 financial statement today, giving us a better look at its varied fortunes.
Only 160,000 Wii U consoles sold, compared to 450,000 from January to March. The touchscreen-enabled home system found the most success in Japan, where it moved 90,000 units from April through June, as opposed to 60,000 in the Americas and 10,000 in the rest of the world. Just over a million Wii U games were sold.
Original Wii is still outperforming its successor more than half a year into the latter's lifespan, with 210,000 systems sold worldwide in the quarter.
Nintendo continued to blame the Wii U's dry release calendar for its poor performance, and said it expects sales to significantly improve when games like Pikmin 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD begin hitting retail in coming months.
3DS, on the other hand, managed to move 1.4 million units of hardware. Animal Crossing: New Leaf sold 1.54 million and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon sold 1.43 million, despite launching worldwide late last quarter. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D's success was less specific; Nintendo simply said it was "well received."
Nintendo posted net sales of 81.5 billion yen ($828.5 million) compared to 84.8 billion yen ($862 billion) in the same period last year. Its net income improved to 8.6 billion yen ($87.4 million) from a 17.2 billion yen ($174.8 million) loss.
