Nintendo have stated in their recent shareholder meeting that they originally expected the Wii U to sell over 100 million units. The company has admitted that these expectations were largely based on the Wii doing so well sales wise, which they expected to continue to the Wii U.
Currently, the Wii U has sold just under 13 million units which is far below both the PS4 and Xbox One. Nintendo are not long away from announcing their next project, The Nintendo NX.
I would first like to clarify my purported comments on Wii U. I do not wish to make excuses, but at the time of the Wii U launch, I was responsible for our sales base in the United States, and I never made any pessimistic comments. In an internal sales representative meeting, someone projected that we would sell close to 100 million Wii U systems worldwide. The thinking was that because Wii sold well, Wii U would follow suit. I said that, since the Wii had already sold so well, we need to clearly explain the attraction of the Wii U if we are to get beyond that and sell the new system, and that this would be no easy task. I was responsible for selling the Wii U, and I knew what was good about it, so I talked with those in charge of sales about the importance of conveying the attractiveness of Wii U to consumers. I am guessing that some of this communication may have come across in a negative tone.
