Based on the Wii and DS' success, Nintendo has been known to "print money" when it comes their consoles. It seems this trend won't be continuing with the Wii U.
As part of Nintendo's semi-annual financial report, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that the Wii U's upcoming release will have a negative impact on the company's profits during the upcoming quarter. Iwata explains it's because they're selling the Wii U at a loss.
In this first half of the term before the launch of the Wii U, we were not able to make a profit on software for the system while we had to book a loss on the hardware, which is currently in production and will be sold below cost.
So, why is the company selling its upcoming console at a loss instead of just pricing it hgher? According to Iwata, they're doing this because "rather than determining a price based on its manufacturing cost, we selected one that consumers would consider to be reasonable."
For those who find the Wii U's entry price high, take solace in the fact that Nintendo isn't turning a pretty penny for each unit sold. Of course, we don't know how much each Wii U unit costs to manufacture, so there's a chance that a year from now, Nintendo will be earning per unit sold. If it's as hot then as it is now with its pre-orders, then Nintendo might just be "printing money" yet again.
Are you fine with Nintendo's pricing for the Wii U or should the company made the price a bit lower?
Source: Gamasutra
