* It has been at the same price for a long time now, during which it has become a lot cheaper to manufacture, especially with the volumes being churned out. Nintendo has been making a profit in every unit from the beginning, so there is plenty of room to drop the price. |
Just because Nintendo can afford to reduce the price doesn't mean that they will reduce the price; it is quite possible that they will use the additional revenue to bundle games/accessories with the Wii to increase its value to consumers being that the price point doesn't seem to prevent people from buying the system.
* The company is ramping up production to 25 million units a year. Initially these will just meet the backlog of demand, but once that is done it will need to use the price mechanism to shift them. |
For over a year people have expected the Wii's demand to drop down after Nintendo increases production and the backlog of demand is satisfied ...
* Nintendo's release schedule is looking very weak. Right now we have Super Smash Bros, Brawl, Mario Kart and Wii Fit. Then nothing mega and lots of shovel ware. Compare that with the PS3 and 360. |
After the long (LONG) lead time for Twilight Princess, Nintendo said that they were not going to announce games years in advance of releasing them. We have seen how this strategy works lately with Mario Kart really only being demonstrated a couple of months before release. It is very likely that the holiday line-up for the Wii will be (roughly) equal to whatever the PS3 and XBox 360 are able to release.
* GTA IV. This is going to transform the balance in the market strongly in favour of the HD consoles. The Wii is going to look increasingly last gen. |
Bioshock, Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 say hello ...
The list of games that already outshine the Wii on a technical basis and are amazingly popular grows every day, yet the Wii continues to outsell the PS3 and XBox 360 (often outselling them combined). One could argue that when Wii Fit is released in North America it will make the PS3 and XBox 360 look increasingly last gen.
* To make the most money out of the Wii back catalogue of games, Nintendo needs as many platforms out there as possible. At a lower price it will sell more Wiis and milk it on the software. |
True enough, but the Wii is already the fastest selling console in history and has yet to show any signs of slowing down; until the Wii is available in stores there is (really) no need to lower the price to sell more consoles.
* The Microsoft Xbox 360 price cuts now make the Wii look very expensive. You get a whole lot more for your money with the 360. |
More is a subjective term, and (as with my first point) Nintendo may choose to increase the value of their bundle rather than lower the price of the system.
