Nintendo is expected to stop production of the Wii U, which failed to sell anywhere near as many units as the Wii did, by the end of 2017 according to reports from Japan.
Nikkei reported on March 22 that Nintendo would stop making the console by the end of this year. A Nintendo spokesperson later told IT Media that production will still continue through 2016 at the very least.
The Wii U first hit stores in 2012, a year before Sony’s Playstation 4 and Microsoft’s XBox One. However, it has only sold 12.6 million units worldwide, according to Nintendo’s own numbers. That’s far lower than the original Wii, which launched in 2006 and has sold 101.63 million units.
The Verge notes that there are several possible reasons for the Wii U’s lack of success. There was little third-party support for the console and it did not have online functionability.
Nintendo is trying to break into the mobile game market though and finally scored a hit in Japan with the app Miitomo. Bloomberg reported this week that it has hit 1 million users, news that sent Nintendo’s shares up 8.2 percent in Japan.
The company is still planning on a new console, which is reportedly referred to as Nintendo NX right now.