By: Jane Douglas

Nintendo has reported a smaller loss than expected between April and June this year. The firm posted a ¥10.3 billion ($132 million) operating loss in its earnings report, an improvement on the ¥37.7 billion ($482 million) quarterly loss reported a year earlier.

In particular, sales of the 3DS have risen, Nintendo said, with 1,860,000 units sold worldwide between April and June, more than doubling the 710,000 sold in the same period in 2011. The resurgent sales followed a substantial price cut in August last year.

Total worldwide sales of the 3DS now stand at 19 million, with the profit on each device sold having improved since launch. The 3DS has been selling at a loss, the company confirmed.

Wii sales, however, continue to taper off. Only 710,000 units of the six-year-old Nintendo console were sold between April and June, down from 1,560,000 in the same period last year.

Nintendo continues to forecast that its full-year operating profit will bounce back to ¥35 billion ($447 million) for the year ending March 31, 2013. The firm will look to the late 2012 launch of its new console, the Wii U, to boost its sales between now and then.

Source: GameSpot