of 2009.

The DS launched in 2004 at a price of $150. It has always sold at a profit and has received one price cut in 2005 to $130. In 2006 it received a much needed overhaul, but no price change. It has been 2.5years since the last price cut on the DS, which was only $20 to begin with, while the PSP has dropped pretty significantly from $250 to $170 after it received its own facelift. 

Why didn’t the DS drop the price to in a similar fashion as the PSP? After all, last gen whenever anyone dropped their price; PS2, Xbox, and/or GC, the others followed. Simple, Nintendo realized they didn’t need to. Nintendo is a company and like any respectable company, is out for profit. They knew that even though the PSP went from being over $100 more expensive to only $40, the DS massive lead was unchanged and its own sales pattern has largely been unaffected. 

So far, 360 has dropped its price by $20-50 and the PS3 has dropped by $100. Yet, the Wii’s sales lead has continued to grow and has been completely unaffected. In this same view, why should Nintendo drop its price any time soon? It’s still selling very strongly in Japan and Others. Above that, it’s still sold out in NA. 

If you were Nintendo leadership, would you even be considering a price cut anytime soon? I wouldn’t. I would be fully aware that both MS and Sony will probably drop their prices anywhere form $20-50 this year, however, I would realize that like the PSP’s massive price reduction and the big price cuts last year, the Wii will not be affected. It will continue to outsell the competition and widen its lead. Sure, there will be some big games released that will cause small spikes in their sales, but largely the Wii will continue to be dominant every month. 

I don’t expect a Wii price until summer of 2009 at the earliest. By then, 360 Arcade will already be cheaper than the Wii and the Premium version will probably be $270 or so and the PS3 will be as low as $300 at best. Then we will probably see the Wii drop from $250 to $200 to maybe match 360 Arcade's price.

I do not think Wii will have a price cut b4 2009 at the earliest. It doesn't need it.

In Europe I think the arcade is already cheaper and the Pro is almost the same price. Hasn't helped MS slow Wii down any.

I think Nintendo will totally ignore what Sony/MS do pricing-wise. If they want to undercut the Wii let them. Unlike Leo-J I doubt a $250 PS3 would dampen Wii sales one bit.

Nintendo will first bring out coloured units instead of a price cut (which let's face it, will work to boost sales) and only cut the price once supply has outstripped demand for a while and that sure as heck won't be this year.

You are so smart.

Nintendo starts cheap and only cuts the price by a little bit at a time. It doesn't have other divisions like Sony and Microsoft to keep its gaming division afloat...gaming is pretty much all it has.

RolStoppable said: I am eagerly awaiting the day all the 360 and PS3 models match or undercut the Wii's price (the 360 Arcade is already €50 cheaper than the Wii in Europe). Nintendo won't drop the price until they really need to, just like with the DS. It will be interesting to see whether or not Microsoft and Sony dare to undercut or match the Wii's price. After all what kind of signal would that be to the customers if the "cutting-edge" systems cost less than the "last-gen" Wii.

 Or if the "last gen" is as expensive as "cutting edge"?

hum...

I think something may happen in Xmas08.

I m pretty sure even cutting the price 100$ (not going to happen) will still allow Ninty to get lot of money from every Wii.

I see no reason to cut the price.

It depends on PS3's succes and Wii's succes.

If the PS3 is selling better than Wii and Wii decreasing with their sales every month they shall a price cut ...Something I don't see happen soon..

 It's has nothing to do with the actual costs in building the Wii. Do you think Nintendo couldn't be really profatible with the DS at $100? I'm sure of it. They have not because they don't need to. Sales for the DS after nearly 3 years at the same price are still very high and their competition, PSP, is still way below them in every month WW.

The same will be for the Wii. They don't need to. I'm sure they could arlready drop to $200 and still make a healthy profit, but why? Sales are still at all time highs and they are still outselling the competition in every market by a large margin.

My Summer of 2009 was not a definite, it is an at the very earlist possibility. Based on Ebay pricing for the three units, I feel that Wii could be more expensive than the elite or 80g ps3 and still sell more.