Wii U to be sold below cost price — Won’t hurt long-term sales say Nintendo

Nintendo‘s latest home gaming console, the Wii U, will be sold below cost price according to its president, Satoru Iwata. The Wii U is scheduled for an 18 November release and projected to reach its long-term profit margin in spite of initial loss, according to Iwata.

In a report from Good Gear Guide (Austarlia), Iwata states “the Wii U hardware will have a negative impact on Nintendo’s profits early after the launch”. The reason being Nintendo’s desire to sell a product that was reasonably priced for the consumer and not priced according to manufacturing costs.

Quite refreshing philosophy for consumers to hear, and something that we would love other companies to adopt in future. iPad mini ringing a bell.

The Wii U will be released in two versions, Basic (White) and Deluxe (Black), with more colors sure to follow. The difference between the two models is storage space, with the basic model packing a modest 8GB and deluxe model, four times that with 32GB.

As far as prices go the basic model will retail for US$300 and the deluxe for US$350. Both are available for pre-order, with the 5.5 million units produced for the initial launch set to sell out fast.