Nintendo lowers sales projections for 3DS and Wii U, expects to sell 1.5 million fewer consoles than before

For all this talk of how well the DS hardware line and Wii U are doing, Nintendo has had to lower their hardware sales projections for the Wii U console and 3DS handheld for the previous fiscal year ending March 31, 2013.

Originally, the Japanese company expected to sell 5.5 million Wii U consoles during that period, but that number has now been dropped significant to 4 million.

For the 3DS, projections have gone from 17.5 million units down to 15 million. For the DS, Nintendo went from expecting 2.5 million units to 2.3 million.

All that being said, Nintendo did raise its profit projections for the fiscal year. Previously, the company expected an estimated ¥5 billion ($75.2 million) in profits, but has since projected a higher figure of ¥14 billion ($153.8 million). Why? Foreign currency exchange gains are credited for this. Revenue projections, on the other hand, are down from ¥810 billion ($8.9 billion) to ¥670 billion ($7.4 billion).

Overall, Nintendo's outlook remains positive thanks to some healthy sales statistics both in hardware and software over the last nine months. Since last year's launch, New Super Mario Bros. 2 on 3DS has sold 5.96 million units worldwide, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf 3DS sold 2.73 million in Japan across two months.

Worldwide, the 3DS handheld has 12.71 million sales stretched across this fiscal year, with 39.56 million in software units. The Wii U, since launch, has sold 3.06 million units globally, and 11.69 million in software.