When it comes to HD consoles, Nintendo in its first four week period has outsold other HD consoles during the same period. The Wii U has sold over 1.8 million units currently. When the Xbox 360 launched around November of 2005, it sold 940,000 units during its four week stretch. The Playstation 3 struggled to move off of the shelves quickly and lagged behind, selling just 540,000 units. The Sony Playstation 3 was launched in 2006, one year after the Xbox 360 from Microsoft.
Compared to the original Wii, however, the Wii U has trailed ever so slightly compared to its older sibling. When the Nintendo Wii launched, it sold over 2 million units. The Wii U could have posted even better numbers but for a couple of weeks after it launched it was having in-stock issues with various retailers. I work for a national retailer and can personally attest to terrible replenishment issues. Compared to this time last year, Nintendo’s shares are 26.1% worse off despite having modest sales in 2011. Much of this is due to analysts who constantly report doom upon Nintendo, despite terrific sales of consoles and games.
Nintendo’s future looks bright, though, so Wii U owners should be excited. The company recently outlined their plans for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS in the first few months of 2013, with over 25 new games slated to launch on Wii U by the end of March.