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There is absolutely no price cut planned for Wii U, despite poorer than expected sales, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has told investors.
“With Wii U, we have taken a rather resolute stance in pricing it below its manufacturing cost, so we are not planning to perform a markdown,” explained Iwata. “I would like to make this point absolutely clear.
“We are putting our lessons from Nintendo 3DS to good use, as I have already publicly stated. However, given that it has now become clear that we have not yet fully communicated the value of our product, we will try to do so before the software line-up is enhanced and at the same time work to enrich the software line-up which could make consumers understand the appeal of Wii U.”
Yesterday Nintendo announced it had cut its Wii U sales forecast by 1.5 million to only four million units sold by the end of March. Iwata overnight conceded the console’s launch momentum has fizzled out.
“We delivered Wii U to those consumers who we thought would be the first to buy it, but information has not successfully been passed on to those consumers who we think will be the next people to buy it,” he said.
“People always try to compare the sales of Wii U with that of Wii, but the current situation is requiring us to focus upon how to re-energise Wii U sales irrespective of any comparisons with the previous platforms.”
Given Wii U is being sold at a loss, Nintendo finds itself in a difficult position of being unable to slash its cost further – at least in the immediate term. E3 is sure to see exciting new game announcements in key franchises, but with Sony and Microsoft set to make waves with talk of the next generation, Nintendo may be left out at sea.
Source: nintendo.co.jp
