Lower the price? No they don't have to. As long as demand remains high they can continue to sell at the current price. Why wouldn't they?

Just be glad they aren't raising the price...

*thinks back to the GameCube's first year

XD

Just as everybody already said, if a product is in high demand, there's really no sense at all to lower the price. But notice how Iwata was talking about the retail price. Nintendo can cut the price it sells the consoles to retail. This would make selling Wiis more profitable to retailers, so retail would promote the console instead of its competitors.

Wow, that would allow the Wii to get sold even more.  Good for Nintendo.  Good for the retailers.  Bad for the competition.

The price has effectively been lowered due to the current Yen exchange rate, at least relative to the amount of profit each console brings Nintendo in both the US and EU territories.

The benefit Nintendo sees from staying firm on pricing, is that those who currently want one are not under the illusion that a price drop is right around the corner, causing them to wait, much like those who are/were expecting a $299 PS3 this season.

So if any territory is to see an MSRP price cut in the near future, it will be Japan first, and only in the interest of stimulating further sales.

Before that even happens, Nintendo will most likely release new bundles and color options first at current prices.

But so long as inventory levels continue to be soaked up by consumer demand, we won't even see that until buying trends change.

Why don't they cut the price to $150, up production to 4 million a month and bring an end to the war. Would also make 3rd parties jump to the Wii immediately as it would go up to like 60% market share.

If Nintendo lowered the wholesale price, it would probably result in retailers offering "discounts" off the MSRP to move more units at best. They wouldn't put that additional profit towards the promotion of an item that already sells itself.

At this point retail outlets simply promote the Wii by running ads that say "Wii in stock" typically with a limited quantities available disclaimer. They don't need to advertise the console, just its availability.

Nintendo still has to plan for the future though. They are not under the illusion that the Wii will be selling for $249 for the rest of its production run. Even the DS was discounted and there hasn't been any let up in demand for that console yet.

LOL, you know what's funny.  Even with the Wii at $150, Nintendo would STILL make a profit of only $3 per console since each console costs about $147 to make.

Since demand sky high over supply ,if they make a price cut.Then Will will become really hard to find in the market.And when this happen some seller'll have a chance ,big chance to overprice Wiis that they have in stock too.

If supply over demand, then company have to do something in order to increase it.And one of those strategy's "price cut".

The way the Wii is selling, I do not see why it would need a price cut. I never expected the Wii to sell anywhere close to what it has done, but it's great for Nintendo.

I always wonder how well the next iteration of the system (Wii 2?)will do. I can't see it being anywhere near as successful as I don't see casual gamers having a need to pick up the next system. Perhaps some new features will be able to sell the next system to the same crowd.