A woman walks past an advertisement board of Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii U game console at an electronics retail store in Tokyo, Japan, February 2, 2016.
Reuters/Yuya Shino
Japanese videogame maker Nintendo Co Ltd will stop production of the Wii U video game console as early as this year after stagnant sales, Nikkei reported on Tuesday.
A few components of the device have already been stopped and parts inventory will dry up this year, according to Nikkei.
Nintendo's Wii U console has lagged behind Sony Corp's PlayStation and Microsoft Corp's Xbox, while the rise of smartphone games has won over many gamers.
Nintendo could not immediately be reached for comment.
(Reporting by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Rigby)