Nintendo Wii U to be sold at a loss

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-24/nintendo-cuts-forecast-on-lower-demand-for-3ds-stronger-yen.html

Annual sales of Nintendos flagship 3DS handheld player, introduced last year, will be 17.5 million units, 5.4 percent lower than previously estimated, the company said in astatementtoday. Nintendo also lowered its forecast for 3DS software sales 4.1 percent and said it will sell its new Wii U model at a loss.

Nintendo aims to sell 5.5 million Wii U consoles this fiscal year, it said in a statement today. The device will cost from 26,250 yen in Japan and $300 in the U.S., the company said last month. The machine will sell at a loss, Senior Managing Director Yoshihiro Mori said today at a press conference inOsaka.

"Manufacturing costs are expensive, and we priced the machine at a level customers would accept", Iwata said at the press conference. "Its important for us to develop a healthy business next fiscal year by combining sales of hardware and software."

Honestly i'm surprised! Some people are still complaining it costs too much, but apprently its not even selling for enough! If some of you are waiting for a price cut I don't think its going to be happening anytime soon. :P I doubt its a very big loss nothing like Sony was doing with the PS3 :P

I'm still getting one day one!

Not a good start... £300 is harsh, I dont care how good the controller is.MBirdy88

2005 tech and they aren't profitting off of it immediately?

Meh, whatever. I don't own Nintendo stock, so this is good for me.

If they don't pull a PS3/Vita/PSP (or really, a Sony), everything will be fine.

Why? How? What exactly is in that system that even a price of $300 won't help to even break even? :? It's using cheap, off the shelf technology, it doesn't have any components that should be too expensive, the controller is a shell at most with a resistive touch screen that streams data from the system... what exactly is so expensive that it has to be sold at a loss?RulerofGondor

[QUOTE="MBirdy88"]Not a good start... £300 is harsh, I dont care how good the controller is.bobbetybob

Wow... That controller must be an expensive gimmick, then. Wish I could buy the system without it... -_-

That controller must be more expensive than previously thought o_Ocharizard1605

[QUOTE="charizard1605"]That controller must be more expensive than previously thought o_OMFDOOM1983

[QUOTE="MFDOOM1983"][QUOTE="charizard1605"]That controller must be more expensive than previously thought o_Obonesawisready5

[QUOTE="bonesawisready5"][QUOTE="charizard1605"]But we already know the tech they are using is off the shelf, nothing custom made, so what exactly are we waiting for?charizard1605

[QUOTE="bonesawisready5"][QUOTE="charizard1605"]But we already know the tech they are using is off the shelf, nothing custom made, so what exactly are we waiting for?charizard1605

[QUOTE="bonesawisready5"][QUOTE="charizard1605"]But we already know the tech they are using is off the shelf, nothing custom made, so what exactly are we waiting for?charizard1605

2005 tech and they aren't profitting off of it immediately?

Fizzman

Hate to break it to you bud, but its defintely not 2005 tech. It was rumoured that the system was using tech from 08-09 but if there not making a profit it might actually be a more powerful system they we give it credit for.

Not making a profit because of Manufacturing costs and exchange rate? I see Nintendo making a ton of money of the actual hardware.

[QUOTE="charizard1605"]That controller must be more expensive than previously thought o_OMFDOOM1983

No....

Got damn it.

You always find an out to hang on to. It's pointless to even debate.

Just admit that you were wrong and I, who said that Wii U would most likely be close to the break even point (probably a small loss), was right.

Anyway

HAH. Your move, Sony. (MS has cash to take losses)

If this was a Sony article, new Sony console, then cows would say: "thank you Sony"...

Oh well, i'm sure that they will make profit out of it next year.

At least Nintendo will have the profitability behind 3DS and Wii.nintendoboy16

And their crazy selling 1st party games.

Also I doubt this thing will be selling at a loss for long. I'm sure they'll have turned a good profit off the hardware by this time next year.

This poster is in the know when it comes to the tech side of gaming:

"Controller based on educated guesswork probably costs around 35-45 dollars to manufacture.

People underestimate the cost of building a machine that has a lot of stuff inside it that they aren't aware of let alone all the stuff that they do know but that they think is suddenly a 99 cent part because its origin started in 2009 but didn't finish design until 2011."

No ifs and buts. Please. There are no hidden costs. No magic, no secrets, no bullsht. There is nothing negative to say about Wii U hw.

You can say it's underpowered, but then the price would have skyrocketed.

This is the penalty for praising Sony/MS last gen. Nextbox and PS4 will be severely underwhelming relative to the expectations of the average SW users OR Sony/MS will loose lots of money/marketshare by making their systems beasts.

The end.

Wow, they need to streamline their processes or negotiate better prices.Zero5000X

[QUOTE="MBirdy88"]Not a good start... £300 is harsh, I dont care how good the controller is.bobbetybob

This is shocking considering Nintendo only sells hardware for a profit, but you have to consider now Nintendo is trying to be aggressive with one thing that will return more money than just selling hardware. Software and Digital Distribution. Nintendo is going to be selling all games day 1 (from Nintendo) on their eShop, and let developers do the same. This will increase revenue if it happens, and honestly... I'm starting to like DD on my 3DS. I think it's a perfect fit for a handheld, but I'll have to see if I use it for my Wii U still. (The only issue I have is how it is handled for extra storage situations.) I never bought stuff from WiiWare because frankly, the store sucks. I hated using it and connecting to it was a chore. I'm sure eShop on Wii U will be so much better, considering 3DS's is a billion times better already.

This doesnt sound right, i bet theres something that we arent seeing thats making the WIi U look more expensive than it really is.

[QUOTE="Fizzman"]

2005 tech and they aren't profitting off of it immediately?

Vickman178

Hate to break it to you bud, but its defintely not 2005 tech. It was rumoured that the system was using tech from 08-09 but if there not making a profit it might actually be a more powerful system they we give it credit for.

that's an important point. The wiiU is $300 and if you look at the console specs it isn't a horrible deal just for the horsepower. It beats the hell out of the ps3, which is $270 now and doesn't have the spiffy controller which at the very least has a lot of gimmick appeal. As a consumer I don't know how anyone could possibly choose the ps3 over the wiiU today.

[QUOTE="bobbetybob"][QUOTE="MBirdy88"]Not a good start... £300 is harsh, I dont care how good the controller is.JohnF111

I doubt the loss is anywhere near what Sony and Microsoft had going on with the 360 and PS3. I got to try one out in Gamestop today, and I'm sold. Getting one regardless of the news.

I doubt the loss is anywhere near what Sony and Microsoft had going on with the 360 and PS3. I got to try one out in Gamestop today, and I'm sold. Getting one regardless of the news.

YearoftheSnake5

Why? How? What exactly is in that system that even a price of $300 won't help to even break even? :? It's using cheap, off the shelf technology, it doesn't have any components that should be too expensive, the controller is a shell at most with a resistive touch screen that streams data from the system... what exactly is so expensive that it has to be sold at a loss?RulerofGondor

off the shelf? I didn't know I could buy an IBM cpu at best buy. thats so cool

What else in this pic is off the shelf?

2005 tech and they aren't profitting off of it immediately?

Fizzman

Because it's not 2005 tech?

Plus the screened gamepad will be expensive.

That means that controller is one powerful.

This is the penalty for praising Sony/MS last gen. Nextbox and PS4 will be severely underwhelming relative to the expectations of the average SW users OR Sony/MS will loose lots of money/marketshare by making their systems beasts.

The end.

SuperFlakeman

[QUOTE="YearoftheSnake5"]

I doubt the loss is anywhere near what Sony and Microsoft had going on with the 360 and PS3. I got to try one out in Gamestop today, and I'm sold. Getting one regardless of the news.

GunSmith1_basic

I agree. Sony & Microsoft jumped into the HD era far too early when HD wasn't mainstream, & didn't even start becoming mainstream until like between mid 2010. Nintendo were very smart to not jump into the HD craze with the Wii & were waiting until the tech for HD had gotten cheaper before jumping into the HD era with Wii U.

Why? How? What exactly is in that system that even a price of $300 won't help to even break even? :?RulerofGondor

[QUOTE="RulerofGondor"]Why? How? What exactly is in that system that even a price of $300 won't help to even break even? :?Timstuff

[QUOTE="GunSmith1_basic"]

[QUOTE="YearoftheSnake5"]

I doubt the loss is anywhere near what Sony and Microsoft had going on with the 360 and PS3. I got to try one out in Gamestop today, and I'm sold. Getting one regardless of the news.

Shinobi120

I agree. Sony & Microsoft jumped into the HD era far too early when HD wasn't mainstream, & didn't even start becoming mainstream until like between mid 2010. Nintendo were very smart to not jump into the HD craze with the Wii & were waiting until the tech for HD had gotten cheaper before jumping into the HD era with Wii U.

Gamespot forums are getting dumber everyday