Wii U sales pass 12 million units

Nintendo released its latest financial report, covering the span from April to December 2015, revealing a slight growth in Wii U sales.

As of December 31, 2015, Wii U sales now sit at 12.6 million units globally. For the nine month period, Nintendo sold 3.06 million hardware units, up slightly from the 3.03 million sold duing the same period last year. For the third quarter, which includes the holiday season, Nintendo sold 1.87 million Wii U units.

While sales are up for the Wii U, it's hardly comparable to what Sony and Nintendo are doing with their systems. For starters, Sony has already sold an estimated 36 million PlayStation 4 consoles to date, while Microsoft has sold an estimated 19 million Xbox One consoles.

Though sales are up for the Wii U, Nintendo is clearly lagging behind the home console competition. With the Wii U selling this slowly, all eyes are on Nintendo's next endeavour — the mysterious Nintendo NX. No actual details regarding the console have been announced, but patents filed suggest a free-form display and a diskless stationary game console. Of course, the biggest speculation for the NX — which is expected to launch in 2016 — is whether or not it will be an actual home console, handheld, or some sort of hybrid.