By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
thismeintiel on 27 October 2011
Edit Thread
baloofarsan said:
thismeintiel said:
Wagram said:
It's a good amount for now but how long will it last? If sales start to slump they don't have much room to cut the price unless they want to lose even more money.

And that's the more important part.  With the DS, Nintendo was making money from each sale.  Now, Nintendo is losing money from each sale of the 3DS.  Then we have last month's NPD which revealed that, even with the large price cut, the 3DS was still not selling incredibly well, except for Japan.  I'm sure the holidays will give it a boost, but there is also the Vita's launch in Japan that may steal some of its thunder.
Production costs etimates from spring 2011
 $103.25 

 http://www.itproportal.com/2011/03/29/nintendo-3ds-manufacturing-cost-over-100-per-unit/

$180

 http://nintendo3dsblog.com/estimated-manufacturing-costs-for-the-3ds

$100

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/03/30/tear-down-experts-say-3ds-costs-100-to-manufacture.aspx

 

Well, if those estimates are true, minus the $180 one, Nintendo must be spending a ton of money on advertising and on developing the WiiU.  I doubt that is the case, though.  If you notice in the other thread where the gaming division's revenue was posted, the time when PS3 and Wii were in development, the devisions still were profitable.  And it was only until the PS3 launched and was selling at a loss of a couple hundred dollars did it go into the red.  My guess is that the $180 is more accurate, so add packaging and shipping onto that and they are selling the 3DS at a loss.  I mean Nintendo have always sold at a profit, which is why they remain profitable even when not selling incredibly well.  So the original $250 price didn't come from them being super greedy and wanting WAY more than it cost to manufactor, it came from them trying to cover the costs to manufactor and gain a reasonable amount of profit.  This is why with the new price, Nintendo posted a loss recently.