Nintendo continues to sell Wii U hardware at a loss

Speaking with GamesIndustry International, a Nintendo representative has confirmed that the company's Wii U home console continues to be sold at a loss.

The news comes just days after Nintendo posted 36.4 billion yen ($387 million) in operating losses for the year, with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata attributing a major cause of the shortfall to poor hardware sales, though he said that the company would return to profitability in the near future.

"Nintendo posted an operating loss for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013. However, we strive to regain 'Nintendo-like' profits for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, by providing many people with fascinating games and services," Iwata said during this week's earnings call.

Shortly before the device launched in 2012, Iwata revealed that the company's ambition was to sell the system at a "reasonable" price, and in doing so, would forgo selling the console in line with recuperating manufacturing costs. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime commented before its release that the Wii U would become profitable as soon as a system owner purchased a single piece of software.

"As soon as we get the consumer to buy one piece of software, then that entire transaction becomes profit positive," Fils-Aime said at the time. "In the end, the business model is still to drive the install base of hardware, and then to drive a strong tie ration with all of the other software and experiences for the consumer. And if we're able to do that, then we will create significant profit for the company."

Despite its attempts to make the hardware affordable, Nintendo managed to sell just 160,000 Wii U units worldwide in the April-June quarter, taking the total worldwide install base to around 3.61 million systems.