3DS sold under 400k in US week one

Though Nintendo still refuses to issue any firm sales numbers for the 3DS, the platform holder has now confirmed that the new portable sold "just shy of 400,000" units in its first week on sale in the US.

As Gamasutra reports, this is less than the general estimate of between 500,000 and 750,000 sales that analysts were predicting pre-launch.

Sales tracker NPD adds that 3DS sold "roughly 100,000 fewer units in launch week than the DS did in November 2004". That would mean 3DS sales of around 380k.

When the DSi arrived in April 2009 that sold 828,000 units throughout the month while the DSi XL shifted an impressive 141k units in three days following its launch in March 2010.

"The 3DS launch compares quite favourably to that of the best-selling dedicated handheld gaming platform of all time, the Nintendo DS," NPD analyst Anita Frazier noted.

"While the 3DS sold about 100K units less than the DS did in its launch month, we must consider that the DS launched in November and had holiday seasonality and a price differential of about $100.

Because of the price differential, the 3DS generated greater revenues than did the DS in its launch month in November 2004. In addition, the 3DS was launched in an environment where there are more devices that can support the portable gaming experience such as tablets and smartphones.”

Nintendo has previously stated that the 3DS enjoyed a record-breaking launch in the US. In Japan it sold 371k units in just two days and in Europe 303k units were sold in its first weekend.