| curl-6 said:
The article I just posted pokes a hole in his illogical theory of Nintendo systems magically staying the same or increasing in manufacturing costs. |
I have never said that Nintendo systems magically stay the same price or increase. I said that certain components do not see significant price reductions, and that the cost per unit of 2.8m Wii U's is likely higher than if they were producing 9m. In fact, I was pretty explicit about what things I didn't think would see their prices fall, I'm not sure what your obsession with magic is. Also to be clear, when I said "The disc drive, power supply, and manufacturing costs are probably similar or potentially higher than they were in 2006." the context of "manufacturing costs" was the cost of assembly. Wages have been rising in China, and despite increases in efficiency, I doubt those costs have been going down.
If you had bothered to actually respond to the points in my first post you would understand that.
The article actually partially supports my point as well. Wii production had ramped up significantly between the start of production and 2009. In comparison, Wii U production has likely dropped (the first quarter of Wii U shipments still represented 52% of total shipments after more than a year), which would put them in a worse position when negotiating prices.
It also depends on what currencies he was expressing that data in. The yen appreciated quite a bit in that time frame. While the price in yen for manufacturing might be down, the price they sell it at might be down as well. At the peak, a $250 Wii was bringing in 30,875 yen in June 2007. By Jan 2009 it was bringing as little as 22,283. That's a 28% drop just from currency fluctuations.
