Fri, Sep 14, 2012 | 11:54 BST

‘Wii U is priced too high, expect a price cut next year’ – Pachter

Wii U has been priced too highly to keep people buying throughout 2013, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter has told CVG. The analyst also speculates that the console will see a price cut before holiday season 2013.

Speaking with CVG, Pachter theorised, “We think that Wii U’s price points are appropriate given likely demand from Nintendo’s core fanbase, but believe that pricing will be too high to sustain demand given current competition from other consoles and tablets,” he said in a research note.”

Meanwhile Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aime has stated that the company’s $299 pricing gives players ‘strong value’.

Pachter continued, “In our view, Nintendo was smart to introduce the Wii U at higher price points in order to maximize initial sales from its core audience. We expect 1 – 1.5 million Wii U units to be shipped into the US by the end of GameStop’s fiscal year (January).”

“We expect demand from Nintendo’s core fan base to remain high through the end of its March 31 fiscal year. Once initial demand begins to subside, we expect Nintendo to lower prices”, he added.

“We don’t expect a price cut until summer 2013, at the earliest,” Pachter concluded, “but do expect a cut prior to holiday 2013. Any prospective price cut will depend largely on competition, which we expect to materialize in the coming weeks.”

What do you think? Is $299 too high? Speak your brains below.

25 comments

stealth
14/09/12, 12:15 pm

its already selling out

Beta
14/09/12, 12:16 pm

Thanks for the update Captain Obvious. I want this man’s job ;P

Confident I’ll find an affordable UK price somewhere I usually do

Fin
14/09/12, 12:26 pm

It is? Got a source on that?

Freek
14/09/12, 12:27 pm

His job is financial analyst, his hobby is trolling gamers/games media.

AHA-Lambda
14/09/12, 12:28 pm

ok I have to ask, waht is so bad about $299? Isn’t this already comparable to the PS3 at $249 and the 360 Elite at $299? For a brand new console I’m not seeing the issue =/

The_Red
14/09/12, 12:44 pm

Actually, he says the price is right for Nintendo fans:

“We think that Wii U’s price points are appropriate given likely demand from Nintendo’s core fanbase, but believe that pricing will be too high to sustain demand”
It’s sustaining of sales that might be a problem with 299. I actually think Nintendo is being rather smart. They now a lot of N fans will get the system at launch. The moment this rush stops, they will lower the price for the mass market and then lower it again by the time next-gen system come out next year.

DrDamn
14/09/12, 12:48 pm

@6
I agree they have set the price to sell to fans now, but they hope they can maintain it – see the Reggie article – http://www.vg247.com/2012/09/14/wii-u-price-we-think-299-is-a-really-strong-value-3ds-repricing-was-painful-for-us-reggie-talks-money

Personally I don’t think they will be able to though. Unless it really takes off.

DSB
14/09/12, 12:58 pm

@5 It’s the exact same price that the Wii launched with, so I think it’s fair to say that he’s talking out of his ass.

Let’s not forget that Pachter was also the guy who said the iPhone “wasn’t a viable gaming platform”.

I reckon he thinks that the 360 and PS3 are still the most exciting things on the planet, so the Wii U needs to be competing with them. But I think he’s forgetting how people react to “new stuff”, yet again.

All it takes is a little bit of early adoption and it’ll be flying off the shelves.

DrDamn
14/09/12, 1:00 pm

@8
Wii was $249, Wii-U is $299/$349

#10

OlderGamer
14/09/12, 1:05 pm

Need to read the entire article folks, not just the headlines.

#11

ManuOtaku
14/09/12, 1:15 pm

I think the price is right for various reasons, first the Wii came at $249, and this is aprox. 6 to 8 times more powerfull, second most of the wii users will not have to buy more controllers they already have, so its a sweeter deal for them, for new commers it will be like any other new console, third comparing with the other current two consoles is not that much especially for the basic model, and even the Deluxe one is including a game and a 10% discount on future games, and this console has more power than the other two consoles, therefore to sum things up i think is fair comparing with other previous launches, but the important thing is how the consumer will see those values, i think the deluxe option is great with a game included, and a future 10% discount on games, i think that will be key to some consumers.

#12

Kabby
14/09/12, 1:15 pm

I want to know the UK price.

#13

AHA-Lambda
14/09/12, 1:20 pm

UK price might be more of a problem I admit. At £249 (according to amazon) it is a harder sell than the US price imo. You can get a base 360 for almost half that price.

#14

_LarZen_
14/09/12, 2:00 pm

It’s super cheap in the US..but then again the economy in the US is going down the hill.

Where I live it wil be around $499…but then again the economy in this country is realy good.

#15

DSB
14/09/12, 2:52 pm

@9 My bad, it was 300 dollars in the UK. Still, not exactly a fortune.

I think the Wii succeeded because everybody could afford to put it under a tree, or fetch one for a birthday.

I’ve gifted two of those things, personally. I don’t think 50 dollars prices it out of that spot.

Personally my next buy is gonna be a PS3.

#16

Eskander
14/09/12, 3:57 pm

299 in North America is too much in my opinion. Should of come in at 249. Is there going to be a game bundled ala wii sports / resorts? Some might laugh at this now, but it was a big selling point for a lot of people.

#17

Kabby
14/09/12, 4:00 pm

Your next buy is a PS3. What?

#18

OlderGamer
14/09/12, 4:02 pm

Eskander Nintendoland is included with the deluxe bundle. It is not included with the standard unit.

#19

xino
14/09/12, 4:37 pm

@5
the issue is, Wii U is basically 7th gen console with little 8 gen feature.
what is the 8th gen feature? 2 gb Ram, HUD on controller….that is all!

worst yet…many games coming out on Wii U are ports!
how many copy n paste Mario games will you play?

Ps3 cost £200!!! how long has it been out for?
xbox 360 comes in 2 packages yet you can get it for £200 (for 250gb!)

and a console that is basically 7th gen ARRIVING late cost £250.
Sounds retarded to me!

one thing that pisses me off is the package.
£300 for the black console with LITTLE added accs. 8gb and 32gb
and what is the comparison for PS3 and XBox consoles?
4gb and 250gb xbox 360! 80gb, 160gb and 320gb ps3!

sorry but Nintendo are doing this to rip off their fans once again!
because they will introduce another version that is better with same price.

#20

DSB
14/09/12, 4:40 pm

@17 What, what?

I’m saying I’d rather grab a PS3 and play those games than go with a Wii U at launch