Japan Sales Week 38 Media Create/Famitsu/Dengeki - September 17-23, 2018

[Miyamotoo]

Bofferbrauer2 said:

theDX said:

He has a point though. The 3DS launched before smartphones took off in Japan. The iPhone 4S was one of the first successful smartphones there and it came out in September 2011.

America in 2011: 42% of phones were smartphones (source)

Japan in 2011: 18% of phones were smartphones (source)

In 2011 the majority of consumers (even in America) didn't want to spend >$250 on a new phone. However, by 2014 smartphones hit ~70% market penetration in both markets. This is when most consumers would have gotten used to the higher prices.

I think this change in perception of value in recent years arguably helped the Switch.

It might have even helped the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. Because remember people shitting on the Xbox One because it launched at $499? That was in 2013. Same year as the Switch launched we got the Xbox One X which also cost $499 at launch and no one cared. But that is difficult to compare because the base consoles are cheaper now.

This has one big flaw, though: What normal consumer actually buys a phone for the listed price?

Almost no one, as everybody take them with their smartphone subscription. So even a 1000$ phone doesn't feel nearly that expensive in the end, even though the monthly subscription is a whooping 100$.

If Nintendo would do the same as Smartphones, then gamers would only have to pay the symbolical 1$ upfront and pay 20$ per month for 2 years, after which you can choose yo keep it or continue to pay another 2 years for an upgraded Switch. In the end it would be much more to pay to Nintendo, but for consumers, since one doesn't pay a large sum at any point there, it just feels cheaper, not more expensive.

Yeah also this, when people getting smartphones through subscriptions (and most people do that) they feel like getting phone almost for free, while they still need to play $300 for Switch and $60 for each game (at least when we talk about Nintendo games).