With Wii sales down from the scorching sales Nintendo has posted in the console’s first three years, a lot of people are expecting a price cut. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter is not one of those people. Gaming’s loudest analyst believes that Nintendo will maintain the Wii’s price for the 2010 holiday season and slash it in early 2011. He told Industry Gamers:
I don’t think that Nintendo has the resolve to cut the price of the Wii heading into the holidays. Recent sales levels have been weak by Nintendo standards, with monthly Wii unit sales averaging just over 300,000 per month in the U.S. However, that’s still on par with Xbox 360 sales, and until Microsoft or Sony cuts price further, the Wii should be able to hold its own. With all that said, I think we’ll see Nintendo maintain price until early next year, and I think we’ll see Walmart implement a similar promotion to last year’s $50 gift card with the purchase of a Wii. That suggests that sales will pick up dramatically, as the effective price for a console, two pieces of software and Wii Motion Plus will be $149.99.
Do think a Wii price cut will happen in 2010 or early 2011? Would you buy a Wii for $150? Or do you still not care about the Wii?
