With Nintendo running campaigns to have users register new Nintendo Netowork ID accounts for their Nintendo 3DS systems and an influx of new owners over the holiday period there were some serious issues with the eShop. Nintendo issued the following apology.
"Nintendo and The Pokémon Company International have postponed the launch of Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter - two software applications that were originally scheduled to launch for Nintendo 3DS on Dec. 27 - due to a large volume of traffic to the Nintendo Network service. Due to the high traffic, players are having trouble setting up Nintendo Network IDs and downloading content in the Nintendo eShop on both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. We truly regret the inconvenience, and wish to reassure everyone that providing a solution is our top priority. We apologize for the delay and thank you for your continued patience."
Perhaps this is a sign that Nintendo had better than expected sales of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Or perhaps it's further evidence that Nintendo have some catching up to do in terms of online infrastructure. Or it could be both.