GameStop expects 3DS to lag in second quarter
Hardware sales will drop below expectations after strong initial launch, says president
Specialist retailer GameStop has said that it expects sales of Nintendo's 3DS to be below expectations during the second quarter after a strong launch in the US.
Yesterday the company called out the system as one of the key drivers for record sales and profits in its first quarter, having secured huge numbers of the handheld for launch.
During a call to investors, president Tony Bartell noted the 3DS represented "one of our highest market shares we've ever had on a Nintendo launch, 45 per cent. We were excited about our market share."
He added: "I think there has been reports that the numbers are lagging from what the expectations were for the US and I think our results would be in line with that in Q2.
"We do expect that we will fall slightly short of what we expected. So we were excited to launch, but in Q2, we do believe that it will slightly lag our expectations."
Sales of the 3DS did not meet Nintendo's initial launch expectations, with the system moving under 400,000 in its North American debut - below the 460,000 units of its predecessor the DS.
Analysts have also claimed sales of the 3DS have slowed considerably, following a period of few new software releases.