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Forums - Nintendo - CNN Money Wii U Parts Price Estimate

Mythmaker1 on 19 March 2013
dsgrue3 said:
pokoko said:
I'm kind of confused about how Nintendo is losing money per console, though.  I don't think they'd tie R&D costs to manufacturing on a per-console basis.  Seems like that would be a departmental cost applied to the entire life-cycle.  I assumed that things like shipping, manufacturing, and exchange rates would contribute to the loss on an individual console.


I agree with all of this. The assessment seems off, unless shipping, manufacturing, and exchange rates are killing the price. Nintendo originally said it needed to sell 1 game to make a profit, but redacted that later on. So it's safe to assume it's at least 2 games to crack a profit. I just can't see these additional costs from just making/moving the units. We're talking an additional $100+ per unit from their analysis of parts just making and moving them.

There's also retail cut. Afterall, Nintendo might be selling the console at a loss, but the retailers certainly aren't.



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Max King of the Wild on 19 March 2013

I bet it's at least 1 of the 2 being a first party game too in that "more than 1 to turn profit" quote.

You guys also need to realize that Nintendo doesn't sell the Wii U at 299.99 either. There is mark up from the retailer... I think one estimate I saw when this gen launched was a $20 mark up. So Nintendo sells each Wii U for $280.



Soleron on 19 March 2013
Max King of the Wild said:
I bet it's at least 1 of the 2 being a first party game too in that "more than 1 to turn profit" quote.

You guys also need to realize that Nintendo doesn't sell the Wii U at 299.99 either. There is mark up from the retailer... I think one estimate I saw when this gen launched was a $20 mark up. So Nintendo sells each Wii U for $280.

For such little markup, Nintendo would have to be handling returns etc. which is a hidden cost.



dahuman on 19 March 2013

They also don't sell the Wii U to retailers for 300 and 350 obviously, I'd think it'd be closer to 250 or lower for basic and the same concept for Deluxe.



osed125 on 19 March 2013

At least now everyone that said the Gamepad cost more than $100 can finally shut up. I've been saying that for the longest time and no one believed me. Either way it's still very expensive for a controller, iirc the 360 controller cost like $30 to manufacture.



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Barozi on 19 March 2013
osed125 said:

At least now everyone that said the Gamepad cost more than $100 can finally shut up. I've been saying that for the longest time and no one believed me. Either way it's still very expensive for a controller, iirc the 360 controller cost like $30 to manufacture.

$30 for the 360 controller ?
That's the retail price in Germany (without taxes) on Amazon.de. On Amazon.com it's $35.

Should be quite a bit cheaper to make. $20 sounds more likely.



Max King of the Wild on 19 March 2013
osed125 said:

At least now everyone that said the Gamepad cost more than $100 can finally shut up. I've been saying that for the longest time and no one believed me. Either way it's still very expensive for a controller, iirc the 360 controller cost like $30 to manufacture.



That price quoted in the video are for parts. It doesn't include manufacturing or the plastic on the screen or bubble wrap around it. It could very well be closer to 100 than you think



osed125 on 19 March 2013
Barozi said:
osed125 said:

At least now everyone that said the Gamepad cost more than $100 can finally shut up. I've been saying that for the longest time and no one believed me. Either way it's still very expensive for a controller, iirc the 360 controller cost like $30 to manufacture.

$30 for the 360 controller ?
That's the retail price in Germany (without taxes) on Amazon.de. On Amazon.com it's $35.

Should be quite a bit cheaper to make. $20 sounds more likely.

That's what I remember from an article a couple of years ago. It's probably lower now or I have the numbers off.



Nintendo and PC gamer

osed125 on 19 March 2013
Max King of the Wild said:
osed125 said:

At least now everyone that said the Gamepad cost more than $100 can finally shut up. I've been saying that for the longest time and no one believed me. Either way it's still very expensive for a controller, iirc the 360 controller cost like $30 to manufacture.



That price quoted in the video are for parts. It doesn't include manufacturing or the plastic on the screen or bubble wrap around it. It could very well be closer to 100 than you think

My arguments on this site were about manufacturing cost, with a possible retail price starting at $90. Most people I argued about this topic said that making the controller cost more than $100 and this finally proof they were wrong. 



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Max King of the Wild on 19 March 2013

Why would Nintendo sell it for $90 at retail when getting one directly from them costs $150...