Wii U: no more shipments for North America

Earlier this year, the Nikkei reported that Wii U production would end this year, and shortly after, a spokeperson from Nintendo denied the “rumour”, claiming that Nintendo had made no formal announcement yet. Then a few months later, Eurogamer reported that Wii U production would end on November 4th, and once again, a spokeperson from Nintendo quickly shot down the “rumour”.

And yesterday, Nintendo updated its official website in Japan, and the Wii U line-up page now indicates that the two remaining Premium Packs will be discontinued soon. What’s more, the notice specifies that this only applies to Japan, though it’s highly unlikely that production will continue much longer for Europe and North America.

After the news spread, Nintendo provided a statement to IGN on the matter, and confirmed that Wii U production would indeed end “soon” in Japan, though no exact date was given.

As for North America, the Nintendo representative explained that, as of yesterday, “all Wii U hardware that will be made available in the North American market for this fiscal year has already been shipped to our retail partners”. In other words: there will not be any additional shipments for that region. We don’t have anything regarding Europe, but we can assume it’s the same: no more shipments.

Since the Wii U sold only 36 300 units in September in the United States, and 3 000 units in October in the United Kingdom, it’s no wonder that Nintendo isn’t planning to ship any more units before April 2017. And there’s no doubt there also will not be any additional shipments beyond that either…

Long story short: it’s the end of the line for the Wii U. If you want to buy one, now is the time!

Source: IGN