Wii price cut not due to Sony or Microsoft, rather software
Cutting the price of the Wii to keep it competitive with Xbox and PS3 was once thought by the industry to be the reason why the price cut happened. Although the price cut is having an affect on profit, this would not have happened had Nintendo software been successful.
Iwata states, “underperformances were attributed primarily to the lack of continuous release of software titles which could strongly drive hardware sales and price cut of Wii hardware.”[1]
Software, and the content inside that software, was so important that the lack of it actually made the Wii suffer a price cut. Nintendo really thought that user generated titles such as Animal Crossing and WiiMusic were to be the next WiiFit and Mario Kart, which they just were not. They failed to drive sales of hardware and in a result Nintendo had nothing else to fall back on during the spring. Interesting enough though, Nintendo could have been in a better position had they not delayed Wii Sports Resort, which was supposed to come out in the spring. We have a feeling they regretted that decision greatly after the price cut.
It is honestly amazing how many gamers think price cuts are a great thing for a company to perform. May be great for the consumers, but not for the company. A perfect example of this is the PS3, which has had a 50% cut in price since launch. This was not Sony’s plan. Price cuts happen when a product is not selling and the value of that product is not up to par with what consumers want to pay for it. This holiday season though Nintendo will again be top dog, as New Super Maio Bros. will most likely be the best selling software title of the season. “We are aiming to regain the momentum during the upcoming sales season, and we are well in a position to do so.”[1]
Nintendo banked on WiiMusic being an evergreen title that could follow in the footsteps of WiiFit, sales were not up to par, and console sales slowly dropped. The result of all of this? E3 Nintendo shows us a new 2D Mario, 3D Mario, Metroid, and announces Wii Zelda is coming. Got a gut feeling Nintendo won’t make this mistake again.
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