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Forums - Nintendo - 3DS costs 15$ more to produce than DSi

Zlejedi on 24 March 2011

 

According to a "preliminary estimate" handed to Eurogamer by David Carey, VP of technical intelligence for UBM TechInsights, the cost of the system's raw materials comes in at $101 per unit (around £61.76). That equates to around a $15 (around £9.17) increase over the DSi, which launched in 2009 for £149.

Compare that to the 3DS's initial £230 asking price and you wouldn't be blamed for smelling a rat. Bear in mind though that the DSi was released relatively late in the handheld's phenomenally successful life cycle, at a time when Nintendo could afford to take risks, having already made back a significant wedge of its original R&D investment.

Of course, on top of the raw materials there are also a number of other costs to consider, such as labour, marketing, packaging and distribution, not to mention those sizeable R&D costs to recoup. Naturally, Nintendo won't reveal what its margin is or what it charges retailers per unit. However, a reliable retail source tells Eurogamer the going price is £170.73.

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-24-why-the-nintendo-3ds-costs-GBP230-article

 

Looks like rip-off margins this time exceed even those on Wii

 



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Xen on 24 March 2011

Nintendo knows how to make money, what can I say?



Aiddon on 24 March 2011

it happens; plus aformentioned other expenses as well as the fact that dev costs for Nintendo's internally developed 3DS titles at least partially justify the amoutn of profit they would make per system



Zlejedi on 24 March 2011
Aiddon said:

it happens; plus aformentioned other expenses as well as the fact that dev costs for Nintendo's internally developed 3DS titles at least partially justify the amoutn of profit they would make per system

Why would you include game dev costs into hardware price?

Last time i checked Nintendo doesn't give those games for free.



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Carl on 24 March 2011

If they can sell it for $250 and make a fuck load of money on it, it's called good business.

Even if some people will think they're milking the userbase for every penny they can.



                            

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NiKKoM on 24 March 2011

Wait.... on this site most people hate Apple for doing this... you know.. the business decision to sell a product with a profit margin... I expect more hate people!!



 

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Linkasf on 24 March 2011
NiKKoM said:

Wait.... on this site most people hate Apple for doing this... you know.. the business decision to sell a product with a profit margin... I expect more hate people!!


Yeah and fixing an apple product is another issue.



Porcupine_I on 24 March 2011

cost of raw material? what does that even mean?

there is no cost to any kind of material if you go back far enough in the line. all material comes free. you only need to pick it up.

Or you pay someone to pick it up for you, process it, shape it, assemble it....

the DSi was a tried and proven concept with some improvements (and removed features) i doubt nintendo had a lot of R&D cost on it, at least not comparable to the 3DS and that kind of money needs to be calculated into the sales, and developing a whole new platform does not come cheap.



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Mr Khan on 24 March 2011

perhaps to recoup R&D costs? Or it could just be an issue of Nintendo recognizing how much potential money they lost selling the Wii for $250, and are appreciably upping the ante to get the most out of it initially

But still, 170 pounds a unit in Britain, $150 a unit in the USA? That's an absolute killing...



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09tarheel on 24 March 2011

Wow, those profit margins are a lot higher than I expected. Maybe the NGP will really be able to retail for $250 or $300 without taking much of a loss. Also it seems that Nintendo wil be able to cut the price on the 3DS as soon as the feel they need to (which will be a long time away) with no problem.