U.S. Wii, 3DS Hardware Sales Drop In April

Nintendo's Wii showed its lowest month of new U.S. sales ever in April, while the Nintendo 3DS sold less than half as many units in the entire month as it did during its March launch week. Nintendo reported sales of 172,000 Wiis for the month, according to a MarketWatch report -- down 38 percent from last April and the lowest monthly mark for the system since its late 2006 launch. April sales for the Wii are off more than 75 percent from a high of 714,000 in April 2008, amidst the system's record-setting sales year. The previous low monthly mark for U.S. Wii sales was 232,000 in October of 2010. Many market watchers suspect declining Wii sales are behind Nintendo's plans to unveil a successor to the Wii at next month's E3 show, ahead of a planned launch in 2012. The Nintendo 3DS portable, meanwhile, sold 194,000 units in April, according to MarketWatch. That's down sharply from roughly 400,000 units sold during the first week of U.S. availability in late March. The new 3DS sales numbers confirm earlier analyst reports that 3DS sales have slowed considerably since launch, and mirror similar post-launch sales declines in Japan. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata recently admitted the 3DS was performing below Nintendo's sales expectations, and committed to a renewed marketing campaign to sell consumers on the system's unique features. NPD reported yesterday that U.S. 3DS sales for April were behind sales for the original Nintendo DS, despite the latter system's age and existing market penetration.