Wii U Production Could End by March 2018, CEO Says - Reports

Nintendo may end production of the underperforming Wii U by March 2018, CEO Tatsumi Kimishima said today as part of the company's latest earnings briefing, according to reports from Reuters and the BBC (via VideoGamer).

This was not mentioned in Nintendo's official earnings statement, but appears to stem from a Q&A session that Kimishima held with analysts and reporters. The English translation of this meeting is usually posted within a week, and we will bring you more details as they become available.

In March, Japanese newspaper Nikkei reported that Nintendo would end production of the Wii U as early as later this year. However, Nintendo later denied that.

We have reached out to Nintendo in an attempt to get more details and will update this post with anything we hear back.

It's no secret that the Wii U has come up short. The system, which went on sale in November 2012, has sold 12.8 million units around the world as of March 31. This compares to more than 101 million units sold for the Wii. The Wii, of course, was a massive, global hit, and matching that success was always going to be a challenge for the Wii U.

Comparing the Wii U against its current competitors, things don't look great, either. Despite launching a full year earlier, the Wii U has been dramatically outsold by the PlayStation 4, which has moved nearly 36 million units by Sony's latest count. Microsoft does not share Xbox One sales numbers, but the console is rumored to have sold more than 18 million units.

Looking ahead, Nintendo is expecting to only sell around 800,000 Wii U systems in the next year. This relatively low figure may be explained by the fact that the NX, or whatever Nintendo ends up calling it, will go on sale in March 2017.

More stories from Nintendo's financial report can be found below.

• Nintendo Announces NX Console to Launch March 2017 Worldwide
• Nintendo Reports Revenue Decline and Expects Wii U Sales Crawl
• New Zelda Wii U/NX Artwork Revealed, See It Here
• These Are Nintendo's 10 Best-Selling Wii U and 3DS Games, Ranked
• Legend of Zelda Wii U/NX Release Delayed to 2017

• Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing Apps Coming to Mobile Devices