It hasn’t exactly been a good year for Nintendo. The golden goose that was the Nintendo Wii has gone beak up, and the 3DS hasn’t exactly been flying off the shelves.
The company has now come out and reported a loss for this quarter, and cut its profits estimate for the year by a drastic 82%. This has spooked a lot of Nintendo investors, and the day of the announcement saw Nintendo shares drop a dizzying 12 percent, the biggest drop since January 2009.
In light of these falls in stock and recent 3DS price cuts, Nintendo is under more pressure than ever to make the Wii U a success. It’s obvious that at this point, Nintendo can’t afford another flop. This has led to speculation on the potential pricing. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter has previously said to Industrygamers, “It would surprise me a lot if the Wii U cost more than $399.99, and I think that the sweet spot is $249.99.”
He went on to note: “[The economy] will effect upcoming dedicated gaming device cycles, including Wii U. Launch prices aren’t too high, but we are seeing a trend in quicker price cuts that is driven by harsher market realities, including less spending on entertainment and the availability of cheap or free high quality entertainment on convergent mobile devices.”
With the added pressure on Nintendo now, it should be safe to assume that the Wii U will fall at the low end of the price curve, Nintendo may have to take a small loss in the beginning in order to avoid the kind of slow start it has had with the 3DS.
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