Wii U is still being sold at a loss

Nintendo continues to lose money on each Wii U system sold, making an eventual price drop for the console highly unlikely, a Nintendo spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz.

The system continues to sell at a loss, something that Nintendo's own Satoru Iwata originally confirmed during a financial presentation last October, prior to the console's release.

"In addition to the yen's continuous appreciation, the Wii U hardware will have a negative impact on Nintendo's profits early after the launch because rather than determining a price based on its manufacturing cost, we selected one that consumers would consider to be reasonable," Iwata said. "In this first half of the term before the launch of the Wii U, we were not able to make a profit on software for the system we we had to book a loss on the hardware, which is currently in production and will be sold below cost price."

Iwata later told investors that the company will "strive to regain 'Nintendo-like' profits" during this fiscal year following the recently released annual report that highlighted poor Wii U sales as one of the primary reasons behind an operating loss of over $300 million.

The Wii U console launched in November 2012, for $299.99, with a Deluxe set retailed atb$349.99.