Nintendo reduces its 2014 sales forecast by 70%

It’s not even financials season yet, but Nintendo is trying to lower expectations in advance. In statement today, it’s announced that it’s reassessed unit sales for its flagship Wii U console,  hacking it down from 9 million for April 2013 – March 2014 to just 2.8 million, under a third of the original estimate. It’s also less than the number of Wii Us that Nintendo sold in its launch year.

Nintendo Co.revised its forecast for the fiscal year to a net loss of 25 billion yen ($240 million), cutting its projections for the Wii U console and saying year-end software sales were far below expectations. The world’s largest maker of video-game machines had projected a profit of 55 billion yen as it counted on Christmas shoppers to revive stagnant sales of its Wii U console. The company cut forecasts for Wii U sales to 2.8 million units from 9 million.