3DS sells 113,000 units in UK launch weekend

Nintendo has declared itself happy with the 3DS’ opening weekend sales of 113,000, even though the figure falls some way short of pre-launch expectations.

Last week the firm announced that pre-orders alone stood at 140,000 and most pundits were pitching their sell-through estimates at between 150,000 to 200,000. It would seem, however, that some of the information being fed back to the manufacturer from retail was slightly wide of (or, in fact, over) the mark.

It is thought that some of the biggest retailers, fearful of stock shortages, over-represented their customer pre-orders in an attempt to secure extra allocation.

The actual figure of 113,000 does still represent the company’s most successful hardware launch in the UK to date. The DSi managed 90,000 units while the Wii clocked up 106,000. It didn’t, however, break the PSP’s record of 185,000 – although this figure was achieved across four days rather than two.

There has been no sign of disappointment at retail, however, with pretty much every major chain, from specialists to supermarkets, declaring themselvesdelighted with the business generated by the new handheld.

Across Europe the 3DS sold a total of 303,000 units in the opening weekend.