Tue, Apr 10, 2012 | 03:18 BST
Rumour – Wii U to retail at $300, component cost closer to $180
Whispers suggest Nintendo is close to putting a price tag on its new console, the Wii U, with a significant margin on manufacturing costs.
Forget The Box cites anonymous sources “closely involved with manufacturing and distributing Nintendo products” for a report claiming the total component cost of the Wii U hardware comes in at around $180.
The tablet controller is said to be worth about $50 on a component level, with the cameras costing $6 and the touch screen $14, while the addition of NFC technology like that used in pay-wave credit card systems is worth about $5.
The sources expect the final bundle to be priced at “no less than $300″ at US retail.
“Cutting production costs to maximize profits is Nintendo’s main concern with the Wii U,” the source said.
“They are cutting costs in the Wii U’s hardware to build back confidence in investors. Nintendo wants investors to view Wii U as a less risky proposition. ”
The tipster also said Nintendo deliberately chose a cheap GPU and CPU on par with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360′s offerings, in order to keep hardware manufacturing costs down.
“Nintendo got a bargain price on the custom GPU and CPU that the Wii U uses. There is a bigger focus on downloadable content, applications, video content, digital distribution, and services to create a stream of revenue,” the source added.
As usual, it’s worth noting that the actual cost of producing a new console – which includes research and development, platform and developer support, packaging and beyond – is significantly higher than that of its hardware alone. An $120 margin would not necessarily represent a profit.
The Wii U is expected to be fully detailed with a launch date and price tag at E3 2012.
Thanks, GamesIndustry. [image]
6 comments
#1
Stardog
10/04/12, 3:34 am
That means probably £220′ish in the UK.
#2
OlderGamer
10/04/12, 4:37 am
One of the idustries outdated ways of thinking is to make hardwar that is expensive and sell it for less money then it costs to make. That worked great on the 16bit systems where every game sold was a paid liscencing fee to recoup investment and off set hardware sales loss.
Today too much of those games sold are second hand and those liscencing fees are not earned on each sale.
The smart thing to do is to sell hardware that doesn’t cost more money to build then you can sell it for.
Am I supossed to be mad at Nintendo because they are making a profit on the system? Or upset with them because they don’t want to stay in the red for three years after launch? Crazy.
If they launch at 300usd, and I believe that is fair, they have room to lower the price later on. I can’t wait till we see how much MS and Sony will be selling their launch systems for. I am guessing twice what Nintendo is doing.
#3
ejams
10/04/12, 4:42 am
How many people out there will consider this a deal breaker? I never really planned on getting it in the first place so much (at least not until more exclusives and features are shown). Another thing is that if this is the cost for something using supposedly “bargain bin hardware” to keep costs low, what will the next offerings from Sony and Microsoft cost, using technology that’s suppose to be ground-breaking for the next part of a decade? Time will tell, but with Sony saying they’re going to remedy their mistakes from the previous generation, we will just have to wait and see how this comes to fruition.
#4
Sini
10/04/12, 4:54 am
trash
#5
Telepathic.Geometry
10/04/12, 12:40 pm
Nintendo should take a lesson from the 3DS debacle and keep the price as low as possible… That price is not as low as possible…
#6
DonnyKD
17/04/12, 6:15 am
#5: And what’s your definition of “as low as possible”? Freaking free?