Nintendo's president admits that 3DS sales have been lower than they expected.

Since the release of the Nintendo 3DS several months ago it has been plagued with reports of under-performance and poor sales. It was recently confirmed that the console has sold one million units in Japan, taking three times as long as the original DS did.

Nintendo's president Satoru Iwata has addressed investors and admitted that the adoption rate has not been as great as Nintendo anticipated. He notes that initial feedback was good and pre-orders were strong but sales have not matched this and suggests that sales have not gone past the initial investors into the wider market.

"The current situation resulted from the fact that the delay of developing Nintendo 3DS software and launching online services, like Nintendo eShop, 3D video services and so forth, occurred simultaneously, so we could not meet people's high expectations that they had before its launch, and we did not see momentum after the launch. I think that we'll be able to show you that as Nintendo eShop and 3D video services come online, and a number of key software titles become available, we'll be able to regain momentum for this hardware."