There are a lot of interesting things to note, but one springs out as extra interesting.
- From 1998 to 2006, Nintendo shipped nearly the exact same amount of hardware every year. It was between 22 and 26 million each of those years. Both last year (FY2013) and this year (FY2014), Nintendo is looking to ship between 22 and 26 million.
In other words, Nintendo is back to selling the exact same amount that it did before the DS Lite. There's no genuine reason to expect that this won't continute to be the case, either. It'll be very hard for the Wii U + 3DS to beat 26 million year, and it's quite unlikely that it will fall under 22 million, as well.
This consistency is insane. I struggle to think of a single company that's ever sold the same, +/- 10%, every year for 9 years straight. It looks like Nintendo will be back into the same area (24 million +/- 10%) for at least 3 years straight again now, with FY2013, 2014 and 2015 most likely all ending there.
Additionally, I didn't know just how atrocious the DS opening in America was. It shipped 5 million over 16 months and two holiday seasons. It's actually worse than the Gamecube did in its first 16 months and two holiday seasons.
