Nintendo 3DS Sales Hit 6.68M

Hardware sales for the Nintendo 3DS handheld console hit 6.68 million units worldwide, company results revealed Thursday. That figure includes previously-released sales figures of 3.61 million units from Nintendo's fiscal year ended March 2011, and a reported 3.07 million units for the April-September period. The console launched in Japan in February this year, and a month later in the U.S. At launch, the console did not meet Nintendo's sales expectations, leading the company to significantly cut the hardware's price worldwide in August, just months after release. The U.S. price tag dropped from $250 to $170 as a result. Nintendo said Thursday that since the price cut, "hardware sales have been improving," and will continue to grow during the holidays. The company expects a "solid software lineup" -- headlined by Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario Kart 7 -- to drive year-end software sales. The company pointed to weaker-than-expected 3DS software sales as a factor in first-half losses and lower-than-expected revenues. Total worldwide 3DS software sales were 8.13 million units. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D became a million-seller during the half, but "Nintendo 3DS has yet to have many hit titles," the company said. For the full fiscal year ending March 2012, Nintendo said it expects to sell 16 million 3DS hardware units. 3DS software sales are now expected to hit 50 million during the fiscal year, following a downgrade from a 70 million unit projection. The company also expects to sell 6 million DS hardware units, down from the originally-expected 9 million. DS software sales projections for the year were lowered to 62 million from 65 million. Wii hardware sales for the year are projected to reach 12 million, with 100 million units of software sold (a downgrade from previous forecasts of 110 million). The 3DS' predecessor, the Nintendo DS, has sold around 150 million units worldwide since its debut in 2004, as Wii sales stand at around 90 million units.