Tag Archives: price rise

Xbox Europe boss Chris Lewis has told MCV that the now-confirmed 360 Arcade SKU price hike to £159.99 from £129.99 is thanks in part to exchange rates.

“We are making modest increases on the Xbox 360 Arcade console as you can see,” said the exec.

“The reality now is partly to offset currency exchange rate fluctuations which have impacted us in local market conditions – particularly in the UK.

“And you’ve seen other consumer products operate in the same way. But I think even with that we still offer the most affordable console in the marketplace out there.

“So we’ve reset the price point largely based on exchange rate fluctuations, but are still very happy we offer great value through the Xbox 360 Arcade.”

Microsoft said this morning that Arcade would rise £30 in the UK, while the Elite pack would drop to £199.99.

As expected, UK retailers have reacted badly to news that Nintendo’s to raise the trade price of Wii in the UK, with one saying the proposed rise will leave no margin on the hardware at all.

“It’s very bad,” ShopTo.net’s Igor Cipolletta told GI, admitting: “If it’s true that they want to increase it by [at least] £18 then there is no margin for us at all.

“It’s very disappointing because we believed that after two years the Wii machine would get cheaper rather than more expensive – I’ve heard that this is the first time in history that the price has gone up for a machine after two years.”

Retailer Chips added that the rise is likely to have an adverse affect on sales, and that the increase will have to be passed onto consumers.

“It will have a negative effect on the sales,” said MD Don McCabe.

“I think we’ll still end up with shortages come Christmas again, but through the summer it’s going to have an effect.”

Nintendo said yesterday it’s to raise the trade price of Wii in the UK by as much as £20 thanks to a depreciated pound.

In light of today’s news of a UK Wii price-hike, GI is reporting Nintendo has refused to rule out that British software prices could also end up costing more.

“The final price in the shops is always up to retailers but we will not be increasing the trade price of existing Wii or DS software,” said Nintendo.

“However, the trade prices for new titles yet to be released may rise as a result of the depreciation of the pound.”

Earlier this year, Nintendo posted “strong sales figures for the nine months ending December 31, showing global sales of 1,536 billion yen, an increase of nearly 17 percent over the same period in 2007, along with 501 billion yen of operating profits, up 27 percent from a year ago.”

Nintendo has told VG247 it hopes consumers will “understand” that it has to raise the trade price of Wii in order to combat depreciation in the pound.

The company confirmed today it’s raising the price of the machine by between £18-20, but insisted that any knock-on effect to consumers will be the fault of retailers.

Here’s what we asked, here’s what Nintendo said.

VG247 – Won’t this force retailers to raise the price of the British Wii?

Nintendo UK: That’s entirely up to retailers. it is illegal for ANY manufacturer to set or fix retail prices. Retail price is ALWAYS set by the retailer. It is up to them what they then price Wii at following the increase in trade price.

Do you expect the move to result in a decline in demand?

Clearly, we hope that consumers will continue to enjoy the entertainment benefits of Wii. We have made this move reluctantly, and hope that consumers and retailers understand that the reasons are beyond our control.

How do you expect retailers to react to the move?

We have made this move reluctantly, and hope that retailers understand that the reasons are beyond our control.

There’s no word yet on when any price hike will come into place.