Steady beginnings

Although no concrete sales figures for Wii U have been given so far, Satoru Iwata has spoken about the performance of Nintendo's new home console in its early weeks. Many have observed that stock has been readily available and easy to obtain in recent times, a significantly different scenario from when Wii launched. While known figures confirm that over one million Wii U consoles have been sold worldwide, meanwhile, we know little about recent updated numbers for Europe and North America.

Speaking to Reuters, the Nintendo President acknowledged the presence of stock on shelves, but shared a reasonably positive assessment of sales so far.

At the end of the Christmas season, it wasn't as though stores in the U.S. had no Wii U left in stock, as it was when Wii was first sold in that popular boom. But sales are not bad, and I feel it's selling steadily.

There was acknowledgement, however, that releasing two models had led to challenges for the company, with demand for the Deluxe/Premium model outstripping the Basic equivalent.

It was the first time Nintendo released two models of the game console at the same time ... and I believe there was a challenge with balancing this. Specifically, inventory levels for the premium, deluxe package was unbalanced as many people wanted that version and couldn't find it.

There was no suggestion of Nintendo dropping its target of sales for the financial year as yet, though the company's shares are reportedly down 15% since Wii U launched.

The news of falling shares prices and the "not bad" assessment from Satoru Iwata show that, in broad terms, Wii U hasn't brought a significant boost to the company. It's early days and the news isn't entirely negative, of course, but let us know what you think in the comments below.

[source reuters.com, via mcvuk.com]