At the very least, it seems as though everyone responding to this post is in agreement more or less that a $199 price is forthcoming, most likely on the 27th, whereas not less than three weeks ago, many Nintendo diehards seemed to be in complete denial of even the possibility of a Wii price drop because of "The Blue Ocean Strategy" "It doesn't need one" "it still sells more than half of all consoles every week" and so on.
Others were only willing to concede that a price cut, if one were to happen, would not happen before the end of the fiscal year 2009 because Nintendo wouldn't "give away" all the potential profits of a 4th holiday season sell out of hardware at the original price of $249 because Nintendo doesn't need to drop price. Or we'd see new colors first, or new bundles, or new colored bundles at $249.
While it's not confirmed (we'll find out in less than a week), it's amusing that popular opinion has completely 180'ed on the topic.
Sales for the next two weeks (including the first full week at the new price) should the price drop become reality, will largely depend upon current inventory within supply channels.
While it's no secret that Nintendo has been building up a huge surplus of consoles, assuming they haven't drastically lowered production rates from peak capacity (likely), I can potentially see the Wii selling out over the next few weeks at the new price, if channels aren't appropriately stuffed in anticipation.
So, once again, if the $199 price point supports the notion that there is a broader market for a $199 Wii, weekly console sales may once again be supply constrained, distorting sales rate figures.
