Pachter: Wii U sales hit 55,000 in April, 20,000 below Wii

by Jessica Conditt on May 14th 2013 7:00PM

Nintendo's Wii U sold 55,000 units in April, down 19 percent from March, while the Wii sold 75,000 in April, down 16 percent from last year, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter estimates. To compare, he says Microsoft sold 205,000 Xbox 360 units and Sony snagged 165,000 sales of the PlayStation 3 this April. By these numbers, sales of the Xbox 360 are down 13 percent and PS3 sales are down 5 percent year-over-year.

Nintendo hit 185,000 sales of its 3DS last month, a 46 percent jump in sales from the previous year, Pachter says. Sony's Vita is down 57 percent from 2012, selling just 30,000 units this April. These are of course the standard Pachter estimates, which can only mean one thing – the official numbers are on their way, via the NPD. Those figures are expected on Thursday.

As of March 31, the Wii U has sold 3.45 million units since its launch, below Nintendo's initial forecast of 5.5 million, and even January's adjustment to 4 million. Nintendo expects to have sold 9 million Wii U consoles by next fiscal year, ending March 2014, with sales spurred by the release of "key Nintendo titles."

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