Analyst: May Wii Sales Hit 236K, 3DS Nears 700K Total In U.S.

Nintendo sold 236,000 Wii consoles in the U.S. in May, while the Nintendo 3DS sales were down compared to April, according to NPD Group data revealed in a Tuesday investor report. Analyst Michael Pachter with Wedbush Securities revealed that the Wii console sold more than the firm's estimated 225,000 for last month, while sales of the 3DS were down 50 percent compared to April - a figure Gamasutra calculates could be around 97,000 units. In comparison, Microsoft sold 270,000 Xbox 360 units in May in the U.S., while the PlayStation 3 sold 175,000 units, according to NPD data. The Nintendo 3DS has now sold just under 700,000 units in the U.S. since its launch in March, after selling nearly 400,000 units in the first week of sale after its late March launch, and a reported 194,000 sold in April. Pachter said, "The 3DS again failed to deliver the results we expected, leaving the industry outlook unclear near term." "Without further price cuts for PS3 and 360, we expect hardware sales to trend down later in 2011, though we think that Sony and Microsoft may consider cuts around the holidays later this year," he added. "The Wii is likely to continue to have weak sales due to consumer anticipation with the Wii U," Pachter continued, "and we don’t expect the PS Vita to launch in the U.S. or Europe until next year due to supply constraints." Yesterday, Pachter said that he believes the Nintendo Wii U "is arriving two years too late." This week, Japanese market research firm Enterbrain said the 3DS passed the 1 million sales mark in Japan since its late February launch in the country.