Register Hardware

Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/28/wii_price_cut_denied_iwata/

Nintendo says no to Wii price cuts

By James Sherwood
Published Monday 28th April 2008 10:35 GMT

Don’t hold your breath waiting for the price of the Wii or the DS to come down this year, because Nintendo’s President has stated that the console pioneer has no plans to reduce the prices of either machine in 2008.

Satoru Iwata recently told a meeting of analysts that Nintendo’s earnings projection for this year isn’t based on reduced-price hardware, and that he doesn’t think the company will need price cuts to maintain demand.

Iwata’s comments aren’t surprising given the roaring global trade that Nintendo’s Wii has done over the past 12 months. The company had sold more than 5m units in Japan by January, and earlier this month the firm announced that its Q4 profit had leapt 60 per cent.

Gaming megapublisher Electronic Arts has even predicted that the Wii, which currently sells for around £180 (€230/$355) in the UK, will be the highest selling gaming console (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/02/05/ea_2008_console_sales_forecast/) in North America and Europe this year. EA estimated that a combined total sales of 12-14m units will be sold in the two regions by Christmas.

Retail prices for the various models of the Xbox 360 have already been slashed in an effort to increase sales. Earlier this month, Microsoft cut all the Xbox 360 models' prices by around £50 (€63/$97) in UK.