Nintendo forecasts drop in 3DS sales by fiscal year's end

Nintendo has given some bad news to its investors, forecasting 3DS sales for the fiscal year ending next month will be 1 million fewer than expected.

That's a 13 percent drop, to 6.6 million units from 7.6 million. A corresponding drop in net sales also is expected, $4 billion instead of $5.4 billion. The sales forecast for the Wii U is unchanged, and Nintendo revised its sales projection for Wii U games upward, to 27 million, after sales through the end of December already topped the previous forecast of 23 million.

The increasing strength of the yen in foreing currency markets also was cited as a reason for the lower monetary figures, particularly in operating revenue. That is dropping to $291 million from $442 million, a 34 percent decrease.

Earlier this month, Nintendo reported another steep loss in profit for the fiscal quarter that ended in December, but found optimism in the sales of Splatoon and Super Mario Maker.

The company has still been profitable in all nine of the months reported so far, but the tone of early February's report was asking investors to be patient. This latest news won't help with that, but Pokémon Sun and Moon, announced yesterday, should supply a boost once it launches by the holiday season.