Nintendo heads for third consecutive annual loss as Wii U flops

TOKYO: Nintendo Co Ltd said on Friday that sales of its Wii U consoles had flopped, pushing it to a third consecutive annual loss and raising a question mark over its future in a home console market increasingly dominated by Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp. 

The company that got its start making playing cards more than a century ago slashed its global Wii U sales forecast for the year to March 31 by almost 70% to 2.8 million units. It cut its sales forecast for its handheld 3DS to 13.5 million units from 18 million. The Wii U is the successor to its hit Wii console.