| hunter_alien said: With the sole exception of the Wii and DS no modern Nintendo system was helped late in the lifecycle by a price cut, and let's face it, those are the exceptions by every metric. Nintendo knows this hence they usually maintain the price higher and release more entry-level models down the line. For the GC and 3DS the early price cuts that did help were survival price cut. It was either that or game over for the systems. Those are facts and there is plenty of data that proves this. By the time the Switch gets any meaningful price cut I doubt that anyone who wanted one won't already have one. The price was never the issue with the Switch so I doubt that a price cut will do more than push the very price-conscious, late-gen adopters to pull the trigger, but those won't make the system sell another 60 million. On the other hand, by starting at a usually higher pricepoint, MS and Sony always managed to generate a bit more hype with price cuts. Instantly the system that was out of reach at 400 or even 600 bucks, is now 100 dollars cheaper, and again, the 7th generation was a perfect example for this frontline. All in all, by the time the Switch will rely on a price cut to drive sales, will be the point where Nintendo will feel that there is not a strong-enough release schedule to push the system on its own, hence it won't really affect the final outcome all that much. Now, if instantly the Switch Lite would be available for 100$ that could change the situation, but why would Nintendo sacrifice their profit margin with a move like that? Somebody who can only afford a Switch at 100$ will most definitely not be a huge software purchaser, so yeah, we can count out a scenario like this in the near future. |
...And the Gamecube which saw a big increase in sales when its price was dropped to 99$. The Wii U never got a price cut. Again, where is the data to back this claim up? You can't just cherry-pick a few examples and forget about the other examples. How many "modern Nintendo systems" are there exactly? Wii, DS, 3DS, Wii U and Switch? If so, three of those systems were helped by price cuts, one never got a price cut (Wii U) and one is yet to be determined. Where is the data to back this claim up? When did a late price cut have significantly bigger effects on a Sony or Microsoft system?
The rest is anecdotal evidence. If you think there are no people who would buy a system at 100$ but not at 200$ in which way is this different from the difference between 200$ and 400$? The PS3 still struggled after its price was dropped to 500$ and only picked up in pace once the price went down a lot - which goes against what you are saying, it does not prove your point. It shows that Sony's consoles are not more price sensitive than Nintendo's systems.
You also say a price cut to the 300$ Switch won't have any effects, but a price cut on the 250$ 3DS basically saved the system.
There is no data to show that Nintendo systems react any differently to price cuts compared to Sony's and Microsoft's systems.
