@Max king of the wild: I did think of it even before posting.
Nintendo itself doesn't manufacture it's consoles. They buy the assembly and components from a third party.
As you have a new product, you pay a premium for it, as the manufacturer has to recoup it's investments in product lines and such.
After the investment have been recouped, the assembly line starts to make profit and you're able to make contracts for a cheaper price. The more components you have, the more you are able to cut down the price - but also you have to pay a bigger premium at the start of the production.
The contracts aren't based on how many units you want to buy at the moment, but you're obligated in purchasing X million units in a month for twelve months (the most likely form used). When the contract expires, you're making a new one with new pricetag and new volume or find a new manufacturing partner.
The cost of PS3 did drop significantly, not just the BD-drive, but all of it's components. If it was only the BD-drive that had gone down in price, it would still have a 599 pricetag (instead of 199) and it would still make a huge loss per unit sold.
Now, the tech itself isn't old. To me it looks like Nintendo is pretty much going with the latest tech, just like they did with the Wii.
Ei Kiinasti.
Eikä Japanisti.
Vaan pannaan jalalla koreasti.
Nintendo games sell only on Nintendo system.
