Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, says the firm is expecting the massive $80 price cut for their new handheld to result in a huge sales spike and they expect it will show in the end-of-year sales. “We feel that those who have experienced the system appreciate its attraction, but this appreciation has not necessarily been expanding at the speed which we had expected,” he said.
He said with this early price drop, Nintendo is looking to set up stage for the upcoming key games, like the Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land, which were just recently given concrete release dates.
“Without creating such a circumstance, we would not be able to realize explosive sales in the year-end sales season,” he continued, also hoping that the price cut will attract more third party support. “Software publishers are currently reviewing which development teams will work on which projects, and the results of which shall be launched next year and beyond. Removing their concerns on the sales of Nintendo 3DS hardware will be very critical for us to be able to enrich the applicable software in the years to come.
“Even though we understand this, for us to elevate Nintendo 3DS to be the platform that can sustain our business, we have concluded that we need to take the best possible measure we can take now, even at the cost of short-term profitability.”
However, this price slash is affecting Nintendo adversely. Recently, it was announced that Nintendo would be selling the 3DS at a loss, and that all Nintendo execs will be seeing massive cuts in their salaries, with Iwata chopping his own salary down to half. Nintendo also fears this price cut will result in loss in fan trust with those who bought the 3DS early on.
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