14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday, Nintendo officially showcased and detailed its newest portable handheld device: the Nintendo 3DS, and now, the official sales estimates were released by the Japanese company.
The Nintendo 3DS is the first portable device with 3D capabilities that doesn't require the use of any glasses so that it can be played on the go and even has a slider to adjust the level of 3D or even turn it off completely.
Even though the device is priced a bit high, at 25,000 yen (around 300 dollars, with current exchange rates), the Japanese company is expecting to sell 4 million units from when it will be launched to the end of Nintendo's fiscal year, ending in March 2011.
The 3DS is scheduled to be launched on February 26 in its native Japan, and will hit European and North American shores in March.
To put it simply, Nintendo is so confident in the 3DS, it plans on selling 4 million units in its first month, a feat that might be easier said than done with such a high price.
Besides the 3DS devices, Nintendo is also projecting that it will sell 23.5 million regular DS units from now till the end of March of next year.
The projection is down from a previous forecast of 30 million, but that still earns Nintendo a fine bit of profit.
Speaking of profit, the company also slashed its profit estimates for the rest of the year, from $2.4 billion to "just" $1 billion.
The reasons for such projections is the strong Japanese yen, which reduces the net profit from overseas sales
Manufacturing costs and problems also affected the release of the 3DS, as the new technologies require extra development and research time.
Do you believe Nintendo will manage to sell 4 million 3DS units in its first month? Share your thoughts below about the company's newest device.