Pachter: Wii PRICE CUT to $199 no later than November!!

[binary solo]

I don't see how games in franchises that have already driven a lot of hardware sales will substantially increase baseline Wii sales. WSR didn't do it, Wii Fit II won't do it, NSMB probably won't have a lasting impact on sales either.

With PS3 there have probably been hu8ndreds of thousands, if not millions, of people saying to themselves "I'll get a PS3 when it comes down in price". A few, but not as many, might have been saying the same thing about 360 (well the HDD versions at least). Who is really saying they are waiting on Wii to get a price cut before they buy? And at $199 is that really the level at which those who are waiting for a Wii price cut will buy? My buying trigger for a Wii is the current PS2 price, same as my buying trigger for 360.

OTOH Wii doesn't need the sort of market rehabilitation that PS3 needed, so a move which boosts baseline sales by 10-15% or so is about all it needs. A $50 price cut might do the trick.

The other consideration is whether the Wii can drop in price by much with Nintendo sticking to it's strategy of selling the HW at a profit. A common jibe at Wii is that it is a re-packaged Gamecube wit motion control. If that is more or less the case it means Wii does not stand to benefit as much from the falling cost of technology, particularly like PS3 does. Most of Wii's tech is probably at a stable price, with only the motion control tech having much room to move. Evidence suggesting not much scope for movement while continuing to sell for a profit is in the UK price increase. Does this mean a $199 Wii is a break even price, or even a small loss per console? I dunno. Of course as the cost of PS2 production goes so should the cost of Wii production if it largely uses suped-up last gen technology.

I don't know about a $50 price cut for lifting HW sales substantially. A $100 cut however...