Nintendo not cutting hardware prices

By Robert Purchese Published 25 April, 2008

Iwata doesn't see the need.

Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata has said price cuts for Wii and DS are unlikely this year.

He was chatting about the recent financial papers in an analysts' meeting today, and said he felt no pressure to lower the cost of either piece of hardware to stay competitive.

"Our earnings projection for the year is not based on hardware price cuts, and I don't think we are going to need them," said Iwata.

Yesterday Nintendo told us the Wii has reached nearly 25 million worldwide sales, and the DS has thundered to over 70 million.

Sales for the company were up 73 percent across the financial year, while operating income was up 115.6 percent and profit up 47.7 percent.

The Wii currently retails for GBP 179.99.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (63) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • dr_lha #1 4 years ago

    Fair enough really. In the USA at least, you can't keep Wiis and DSs on the shelves.

  • Widge #2 4 years ago

    think its been an interesting tactic of releasing a console immediately at a price that people want to buy one for

  • Prodigy_BE #3 4 years ago

    Yes, but the system is 18 months old, the hardware prices and production costs have gone down, and on top of that, they made money on every Wii and DS sold from day one.

    So why not cutting consumers some slack, drop them prices a bit, and let them have some more money for software. Or bundle a few games with every console sold. Zelda TP and stuff.

    Me thinks Nintendo's Nr 1 position is making them arrogant.

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #4 4 years ago

    To be honest i think there regretting they didnt come in at a higher price point than £179.99 now

  • Madafunkola #5 4 years ago

    "Me thinks Nintendo's Nr 1 position is making them arrogant."
    Ooooo - this generations Sony?

    /tries to put pin back in grenade
    /fails
    /runs

  • Rash' #6 4 years ago

    Prodigy_BE, Not arrogant, just has no incentive to drop price. Why would they when consumers are happily snapping them? The relationship between manufacturer and consumer is a simple one. The manufacturer wants the consumer to buy their product. The consumers decide if they want it or not. The manufacturer responds accordingly. Wii is more than competitive which doesn't give Ninty any reason to drop price.
    Edited by 2 at 25/04/08 @ 16:11

  • Triggerhappytel #7 4 years ago

    Well ofcourse there's no need; they can't make the damn machines quickly enough, so why would they want to unnecessarily dent their own profits by reducing the sale price?!

  • Nikanoru #8 4 years ago

    Yes, but the system is 18 months old, the hardware prices and production costs have gone down, and on top of that, they made money on every Wii and DS sold from day one.

    So why not cutting consumers some slack, drop them prices a bit, and let them have some more money for software. Or bundle a few games with every console sold. Zelda TP and stuff.

    Me thinks Nintendo's Nr 1 position is making them arrogant.


    If you were a console manufacturer and you had trouble keeping your system on the shelves even though you're already producing ungodly amounts of them, would you seriously think "hey, let's lower the price"?

    Seriously? Really?

  • japstersam #9 4 years ago

    i think theres no need to drop the price, its already at a very reasonable price for a console anyway.gooo nintendo!

  • TheBoyChris #10 4 years ago

    They're a business - if it's selling well at a price you've already set there's no point in dropping it, especially when you're already considered to be incredible value for money.

  • imamazed #11 4 years ago

    Hmm, The DS can stay where it is, but £180 for the wii is still too expensive imo.

    MORE families would buy it if it was £120. You can get a 360 for £160 these days too, which makes it look poor value in comparison.

  • smelly #12 4 years ago

    "MORE families would buy it if it was £120."

    you sir.. are an idiot

  • mischief #13 4 years ago

    If it came down £50 then I could justify getting one for a bit of "casual" action. I bet I'm not the only person who has a PS3 or 360 who fancies a dabble, but not at current price.

  • Triggerhappytel #14 4 years ago

    Anyway, forget this, I want the PS3 to get a PSThree redesign and the size and weight to subsequently drop to about half, and also the price to come down to sub-£200.

    And can you do this very quickly please, Sony, as I want to get one soon for GTA and MGS. Thanks.

  • CallousB #15 4 years ago

    I thought they might have dropped the DS price in Japan..but that's about it.

    A Wii price cut won't happen for a long time. You'll see new colours before that happens.

  • Penguinzoot #16 4 years ago

    Nintendo not cutting hardware prices: "I don't think we are going to need them", said Iwata

    Neither do I actually ;-)

  • Razz #17 4 years ago

    Bit of a non news item really. Makes perfect sense. Hardly news worthy imo.

  • Prodigy_BE #18 4 years ago


    Yes, but the system is 18 months old, the hardware prices and production costs have gone down, and on top of that, they made money on every Wii and DS sold from day one.

    So why not cutting consumers some slack, drop them prices a bit, and let them have some more money for software. Or bundle a few games with every console sold. Zelda TP and stuff.

    Me thinks Nintendo's Nr 1 position is making them arrogant.


    If you were a console manufacturer and you had trouble keeping your system on the shelves even though you're already producing ungodly amounts of them, would you seriously think "hey, let's lower the price"?

    Seriously? Really?


    You do realize that they could have easily boosted production a long time ago, but the "it's still sold out" is more valuable to them.
    I used to think that Nintendo was 'the friendly giant', but not anymore. They're just 'the giant' now. :)

  • superjag86 #19 4 years ago

    As long as there's demand they can charge what they like. That's capitalism for ya!

  • figgis #20 4 years ago

    You must be young then Prodigy, they were cunts in the SNES & N64 days too (but made top games).
    Edited by 1 at 25/04/08 @ 16:36

  • SlackMaster #21 4 years ago

    It's selling silly amounts so they have not incentive to drop price and won't until sales begin to slow. Strangely enough I though Wii Fit wouldn't sell that well at £69.99 and I certainly wouldn't buy it at that price, but I was standing in HMV today and people couldn't throw their money away quick enough to get it.

  • kestral #22 4 years ago

    Analysts predict that if nintendo can't sell enough consoles the price will drop. ;)

  • ProfessorLesser #23 4 years ago

    "You do realize that they could have easily boosted production a long time ago, but the "it's still sold out" is more valuable to them.W

    Got any evidence to back this up? Seems to me they're long past the need for spin. If they could be making more units to make more money with, I think they'd be doing it. This isn't a launch issue - Wii has made its mark already.

  • Prodigy_BE #24 4 years ago

    /wishes he was still young.

    I'm 31 now, so I grew up with NES and SNES. But never saw the biz side of things. My knowledge in sales didn't start until I started selling dope :)

  • superjag86 #25 4 years ago

    You do realize that they could have easily boosted production a long time ago, but the "it's still sold out" is more valuable to them.

    Not quite true as their factories are running at maximum capacity so to produce more units they would have to build more factories. They could easily afford this but I think even they are worried about the bubble bursting, although it doesn't look like that's happening anytime soon...

  • jonsaan #26 4 years ago

    I think the Wii is pretty expensive for what it is. When you factor in additional controllers, classic controllers, battery chargers etc.

  • bigbadbeasty #27 4 years ago

    The Wii has now sold 25 million consoles, you can hardly say they are have been poor with production. Nintendo would be crazy to lower the price, it would be an unbelievably bad business decision.

    The fact that the 360 is at a lower price now does not really matter to Nintendo, has it effected there sales? No.

  • hahayou #28 4 years ago

    Obviously they shouldn't drop the hardware price, but how about splashing some of their ridiculous amounts of cash around to get more games on the shelves? Buy some good developers and get Pikmin, Fire Emblem and NSMB2 on the DS, for instance. Do Bit Generations for WiiWare. More stuff like Wii Sports/Play (but better) - why not have 5 different games the series so you can get 4 different mini-game compilations when you buy 4 remotes? Hire some indies doing cool stuff and make full games.

    edit: And take some risks! They're basically at that point in a Halo match where they're miles ahead and can start trying to get kills by landing warthog stunts on people instead of playing conservatively and hiding behind rocks...
    Edited by 2 at 25/04/08 @ 17:27

  • Feanor #29 4 years ago

    I think they should raise the price in the US to $300, then maybe I'd actually see one sitting on a store shelf.

  • InsoFox #30 4 years ago

    "I think the Wii is pretty expensive for what it is. When you factor in additional controllers, classic controllers, battery chargers etc. "

    It's the same story with all the consoles, though, especially when you're forced to go with Nintendo's own peripherals like the controller. I was walking along oxford street the other day looking for a Wii RGB scart cable. In HMV the official one was something like £38 (!), in zaavi it was £25, and in Game I picked up an unofficial one that worked like a dream for £3.99. That's not always an option, though, of course.

    There are a whole load of extras which are really only 'semi-optional', in that it would be really annoying not to have them, such as a recharge kit, an extra controller, for me an adapter for wired internet, a classic controller for virtual console games... this stuff seriously adds up!

  • Nikanoru #31 4 years ago

    You do realize that they could have easily boosted production a long time ago, but the "it's still sold out" is more valuable to them.
    I used to think that Nintendo was 'the friendly giant', but not anymore. They're just 'the giant' now. :)


    Oh god not this again.

    Yeah, they're obviously keeping production down, as evidenced by the low amount of consoles reaching consumers. Am I right or what?

  • Andy247 #32 4 years ago

    Surely the point of a price drop is not because it's necessary, it's because it's possible? Nintendo are selling them as quickly as they can get them on shelves but we can't reasonably expect that given the hardware architecture they've been selling at a loss! So if they're already making a profit, and the manufacturing process will have come down in cost, why wouldn't they reduce the cost?

    The only answer is greed.

  • Davemanz #33 4 years ago

    Eh, the price for both products is pretty fair (in the US at least). Plus I already own both. I paid full price for my DS Lite when it was first released and it's definitely worth every penny. It's not like the price is stopping anybody from getting one anyway.

  • smelly #34 4 years ago

    >You do realize that they could have easily boosted production a long time ago,


    Again .. that is quite frankly the 2nd most stupid thing i've read on here today.


  • smelly #35 4 years ago

    >why wouldn't they reduce the cost?

    Geesus.. some f-ing morons on here arent there?

    They.. cant.. make.. enough.. fucking.. machines.. they.. disapear.. the .. moment.. they're.. put.. on.. shelves..

    Lowering.. the .. price.. will.. make.. that.. worse..


    Oh i dont know why i'm bothering you're obviously the dumbest kid in your class at school.

  • Kryon #36 4 years ago

    Why on earth would Ninty cut prices? Jeez, they're managing to sell Gamecubes for £180 by marketing it at overweight females and it's actually working!

  • canIdoyabombsforya #37 4 years ago

    /I blew £425 on a PS3, most of the blu-ray movies had been on TV 5 times and cost £20, the games were not real 1080p only upscaled, Linux runs like a dog, to rub salt in my wounds the PS3 is now availble for £239 almost a whopping £200 price cut in less than a year.
    /So please Nintendo, how about losing some money on your runaway success just to make me feel better? I mean how dare you charge £90 less than an iphone. I'm gonna buy a fully wired up Core 360 in protest.
    :))

  • Madlax #38 4 years ago

    If they ever have to price-cut, then it will be for the DS in japan only, as it has been outselled by the PSP for awhile now by nearly 2-to-1.

    As for the rest of the world.....there is no real incentive.

  • Penguinzoot #39 4 years ago

    You do realize that they could have easily boosted production a long time ago, but the "it's still sold out" is more valuable to them.

    Oh god not this again.

    Nikoranu +1

    I have no idea whether Nintendo could have easily increased production. Maybe the costs of setting it up were prohibitive; maybe they didn't know (and perhaps still don't know) how long the amazing demand for the Wii would last, who knows?

    Ask any exec (or even a management trainee) whether they would prefer to be unable to meet demand so they get the "it's still sold out" kudos, or have products on the shelf they can guarantee selling, I can pretty much guarantee what they would say: Money in the bank every time.

    Oh, and this:
    So if they're already making a profit, and the manufacturing process will have come down in cost, why wouldn't they reduce the cost?

    Capitalist company in capitalist economic system existing to make money shocker!
    Edited by 1 at 25/04/08 @ 17:54

  • cyber_nicco #40 4 years ago

    I think the Wii is an overpriced piece of mediocrity, and a serious threat to gaming as we know and love it.

    That being said, if Nintendo were to lower its Wii prices now it would be extremely irresponsible. As a publicly owned company, it has a responsibility to its shareholders to maximize profits, and I don't really see how keeping these prices is going to hurt their future sales...
    Edited by 1 at 25/04/08 @ 18:07

  • Headache #41 4 years ago

    Nintendo in continuing to print money shocker!

    While the system continues to sell as well as it is there's no reason for them to drop the price, and as their financial estimates for 08/09 show they expect to sell even more over the coming year (and with a higher profit margin I'd imagine too.)

    I'm interested to see what they'll be unveiling at E3 that will get people buying more games in their millions in the second half of the year.

  • secombe #42 4 years ago

    I think the Wii is an overpriced piece of mediocrity, and a serious threat to gaming as we know and love it.

    To name two recent examples, how is PES 2008 and Mario Kart in any way shape or form a threat to gaming as "we" know and love it? PES has single-handedly revolutionised football games at the first attempt and made it possible to play some seriously realistic games, and Mario Kart has the best 'casual' online gaming experience I've ever seen...my 47 year old female mother of 4 colleague at work plays online ffs!

  • BonzoBanana #43 4 years ago

    I'm absolutely amazed there are still people who think nintendo couldn't ramp up production if they wanted to. Its not a powerful console at all. There are cheap laser printers with more processing. Nintendo don't own the factories where the main components are made and most of the assembly is done by subcontractors in china. When Nintendo had their own factories they were in japan but I'm unsure of whether they exist as fully fledged factories or just repair depots now. Anyway the point is Nintendo could easily ramp up production if they wanted to by subcontracting but why lower the price and saturate the market when you can control supply and keep prices high?

    Nintendo's mission is to get as much money out of people as possible and thats it. They are not your friends, they provide entertainment and you choose to buy it or not.

    Personally I resent the high pricing of the wii and the only game I really, really want is Mario Galaxy so I haven't bothered with one. I feel quite proud of myself for actually resisting to buy a console which is a rarity for me.

  • smelly #44 4 years ago

    "I think the Wii is an overpriced piece of mediocrity, and a serious threat to gaming as we know and love it. "

    It's funny.. i think the same about the 360/ps3..

    At least nintendo are keeping traditional gaming experiences alive than just relying on shooters and racers which you can only tell apart by how pretty the pixels are..

    But that's just me - each to their own.

  • smelly #45 4 years ago

    "To name two recent examples, how is PES 2008 and Mario Kart in any way shape or form a threat to gaming as "we" know and love it?"

    Presumably it's because you dont shoot things in either.

  • VMerken #46 4 years ago

    ... simple economics, yes? Demand, supply, all that?

  • smelly #47 4 years ago

    lol.

    Well put

    People seem to forget how expensive the ps2 was right up until the end.. Even after the 360 came out, it was still WELL expensive.. And why? Because PEOPLE WERE STILL BUYING IT!

    I'd hate for some of you ever to go into business:

    "hey frank.. this item is selling out quicker than we can get it in stock"
    "really? Excellent, lets cut the price of it!"

    Duh
    Edited by 1 at 25/04/08 @ 19:27

  • Kryon #48 4 years ago

    @smelly

    ""hey frank.. blah blah, etc"

    At least you've taken the first step and spoken with FRANK.

  • malloc #49 4 years ago

    So wait a minute. You're saying that Nintendo are on the biggest roll in practically any industry going at the moment, can barely keep up with demand, are making a lot of profit and are NOT having a price cut. I think certain people working at N are going to get fired if they're not careful.

    Surely if there was an award for most obvious statement of the year this would be a contender?

  • zedzee #50 4 years ago

    Nintendo can't believe their luck this time around. They're milking it and trying to make as much profit as they can, while still riding the crest of the wave.

    Once simple answer for not dropping their prices: BUSINESS GREED!
    Edited by 1 at 25/04/08 @ 22:45

  • malloc #51 4 years ago

    What could possibly be the point of the price cut? There's none, surely. To drive sales?

  • smelly #52 4 years ago

    >Once simple answer for not dropping their prices: BUSINESS GREED!

    Erm? Um..

    Erm..

    You *ARE* aware of the point of a business arent you?

  • hybridial #53 4 years ago

    "I think the Wii is an overpriced piece of mediocrity, and a serious threat to gaming as we know and love it. "

    And I'd say the same about Halo, Call of Duty and GTA.

  • Nikanoru #54 4 years ago

    And I'd say the same about Halo, Call of Duty and GTA.


    Actually, in my humble opinion those types of games have -already- run gaming into the ground. :p

  • hybridial #55 4 years ago

    "Actually, in my humble opinion those types of games have -already- run gaming into the ground. :p"

    Throw in WoW and your probably right. Say what you want about Nintendo, but a number of their recent games (Metroid Prime 3 and Twilight Princess in particular) at least were very good contributions to gaming. They approach gaming in a well rounded manner, and well, that's the reason for their ongoing success.

  • chrisjm #56 4 years ago

    but they dont need to stimulate demand, so why would they cut price?
    its not greed, its common sense.

  • smelly #57 4 years ago

    hybridial & Nikanoru

    Wow.. Thanks guys.. just when i was feeling depressed that all gamers seem to want nowadays is fps and carbon copy gta/racing clones...

    You guys filled me full of re-assurance that there are people out there who do actually.. enjoy.. you know.. "gaming"

    I played sonic 2 today.. It made me laugh to think how much people classify stuff like "halo" and "gta" as "hardcore" when we've all beaten them really quickly. Going back to sonic 2 made me realise what "hardcore" actually was...

    Ah well... Guess the kids will learn

  • jebus #58 4 years ago

    @Prodigy_BE
    25-Apr-08 15:58:30 Yes, but the system is 18 months old, the hardware prices and production costs have gone down, and on top of that, they made money on every Wii and DS sold from day one.

    Err - because they are a business not a charity and that's how business works - please don't ever consider becoming an accountant :)
    Why would you cut the price if you can sell more than you can make? If it was me I'd put them up.

  • Picnico #59 4 years ago

    'think its been an interesting tactic of releasing a console immediately at a price that people want to buy one for'

    Well, the Gamecube's launch price of £129.99 definitely should have been a price that people wanted to buy one for. It was nearly half the cost of the N64's launch price (£250) yet the Cube sold much less than than the PS2 and only about as much as the Xbox, a new entrant to the market.



  • manic_mouse #60 4 years ago

    I kinda want a Wii for the GF, a price drop would certainly help but it isn't gonna happen when Ninty can't make them fast enough. IMO Wii Sports has had more to do with the Wii's success than anything else.

  • smelly #61 4 years ago

    "Well smelly you obviously have better taste than the rest of the gaming community."

    seems that way - yes

  • Xerx3s #62 4 years ago

    "Me thinks Nintendo's Nr 1 position is making them arrogant."

    Making? They have been that since the nes days, now they just have something to be arrogant about again.

    EDIT: Not that I can blame them, dropping price now is just stupid.
    Edited by 1 at 28/04/08 @ 07:35

  • Katsumoto #63 4 years ago

    Just to repeat what everyone else has said - "Business in "Makes Profit" Shocker!"