Nintendo Co Ltd has remained characteristically vague about when it plans to reveal its next console, which is codenamed Nintendo NX, but according to a report by Japanese news publication Nikkei, Nintendo plans to halt production on the Wii U sometime this year.

According to the report, Nintendo has already halted production on certain Wii U accessories, and it will stop producing the console entirely by the end of the year. Nikkei notes, however, that this is not a guarantee that NX will be released this year, but it seems likely that Nintendo will reveal more information about the console in the near future if it is already phasing out the Wii U.

The Wii U has only been available for less than four years, and when compared to the astounding success of the Wii, which sold over 100 million units, the Wii U cannot be described as anything but a disappointment in terms of sales for the company.

Even former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who passed away last year, admitted that the Wii U launch was not well received.

““For Wii U in particular, it cannot be said that it had a successful launch,” Iwata said in response to a shareholder’s question duriong a Q&A held last year. “Looking back at some of Nintendo’s past platforms, this ideal launch has been achieved 100 percent by perhaps only Wii. Even the Nintendo DS launch had areas in which we could have done better. I cannot disagree with your indication that Wii U is experiencing the most unfavorable situation.”

According to Nintendo, the Wii U has sold over 12.6 million units as of the end of 2015. Meanwhile, Xbox One is reported to have sold around 19 million units, and Sony has said that PlayStation 4 has sold over 35.9 million units.

Looking at the numbers, it seems pretty clear why Nintendo might be ready to move on from the Wii U, but whether NX will be its savior remains to be seen.

Image courtesy of Nintendo Co Ltd