Fils-Aime: Absolutely no more Wii price cuts

October 7th, 2009, 15:45 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo won't be cutting the price of the Wii any further in response to slowing sales and the sluggish economic climate, and will instead rely on innovation to drive consumers to buy its products.

Speaking in an interview with CNBC, NoA president Reggie Fils-Aime said consumers will spend provided they're given great value for money.

"We say that based on the experience of launching the Nintendo DSi this past April, we've already sold 2.2 million units, so we're feeling very good about the holiday," he commented.

"We define value as what you get for what you pay. With Wii - with the USD 50 price drop - you're getting a lot more value."

Console sales for August versus July show that Wii sales are up ten per cent. The Xbox 360 has seen a six per cent rise since its price drop, and PlayStation 3 a 72 per cent rise after a price drop and the introduction of the new slim model.

A further price cut for Wii however is "absolutely not" going to happen, said Fils-Aime.

"We lasted 34 months without having to cut the price. We were able to reach over 20 million consumers here in the US at USD 249. The next group of consumers we will get at this USD 199 price point, and we've already seen very strong results after just one week on the marketplace."

He pointed out that instead innovation and new experiences will continue to drive sales - "it's going to be our solution to this current economic environment" - and that Nintendo is dedicated to delivering this innovation with products such as the DS Vitality Sensor.

Fils-Aime also assured consumers there would be no stock shortages from Nintendo this Christmas.

"We're prepared. We have a tremendous amount of product in inventory, we've been flowing product in for retail. We do not expect to have shortages on our products.

"If we do experience them, I'd love to have that problem, but we're not seeing that this year."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...wii-price-cuts

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