Nintendo cuts Wii U sales forecasts from 9m to 2.8m

Nintendo has slashed its sales forecasts for the Wii U from nine million to 2.8m for the year ending March 31st 2014.

This means if the console giant hits that target, lifetime Wii U sales will hit 6.25 million, as the hardware sold 3.45 million units in the previous year.

Expectations for Wii U software sales have also been cut by half from 38 million to 19 million.

Despite seemingly strong sales for the 3DS during the last year, the handheld console also missed expectations. Sales have been revised down from 18 million to 13.5 million.

3DS software sales were also marked down from 80 million to 66 million.

The Wii meanwhile is expected to have sold 1.2 million units for the year, down from a forecast of two million. It is hoped software sales for the console will reach 26 million however, up from a predicted 20m.

In total, Nintendo expects to report a loss of £146 million ($239m).

The firm had previously forecast profits of £320 million ($527m).