Nintendo to make a loss of $835 million in 2011, despite selling 15 million 3DS units

Alongside Satoru Iwata's pronouncement that the Wii U will be on sale by the holiday season this year, Nintendo has had to report some ignominious news about its financial situation. The company has reiterated its expectation that it'll generate a loss for the full 2011 fiscal year, now placing the number at ¥65 billion (about $835 million), and it has also had to revise down estimates for sales during the latter part of the period. Previous forecasts had placed sales of the 3DS at 16 million between April 2011 and March 2012, but now Nintendo expects to only sell 14 million. In total, the company has sold over 15 million of the dual-screen 3D portable console, of which 4.7 million have ended up in Japan, 5.5 million in the Americas, and the rest around the globe. The Wii, which has sold over 94 million units to date, also saw its expected annual sales revised down, from 12 million to a round 10 million. Looks like that holiday season can't come soon enough for Nintendo.