Independent UK retailers have called for a Nintendo Wii U price cut in an attempt to help drive sales for the PS3 and Xbox 360 rival.
Nintendo Wii U sales have struggled since the console’s launch in November last year, with rumoured sales for January in the US said to be fewer than 100,000 units. A slow start for the latest Nintendo console caused the Japanese company to slash sales predictions by 27 per cent.
However, independent retailers are suggesting that Nintendo can turn around the Nintendo Wii sales slump by cutting the price of the console.
“A price drop on the console or extremely competitive bundle options to encourage consumer take-up would be ideal,” said Simon Peck, Commercial Director at Grainger Gamers.
The average price for the Nintendo Wii U will set you back around £250 and Nintendo Wii U cost between £35 – £40.
“Both the machine and software prices are too high to compete. The price point needs looking at but this alone will not fix the issue,” said Founder of Xbite Nick Whitehead.
Meanwhile, mainstream retailers are questioning Nintendo’s marketing campaign, suggesting the Nintendo Wii U is still largely unknown to a good portion of potential consumers.
“Wii U has not caught the public’s imagination yet,” said Jonathan Hayes, Games Buying Manager at Tesco. “[We need] a big marketing push to clearly communicate what Wii U is all about.”
If you compare the sales figures for the Nintendo Wii U to those achieved by the original Nintendo Wii at the same point post-launch, the latest console suffers from 38 per cent lower sales after three months.
“A new strategy needs to be communicated and launched for Easter, the school holidays, the summer holidays and beyond,” advised Sainsbury’s Game Buying Manager Gurdeep Hunjan.
Another blow for Nintendo came after it lost exclusive rights to Rayman Legends and Ninja Gaiden 3, with Activision boss Bobby Kotick saying the publisher is “disappointed” by the Nintendo Wii U’s poor launch performance.
Unfortunately, Nintendo sales look set to continue in a similar vein, after Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata revealed there would be no price cut for the console in the foreseeable future.
“With Wii U, we have taken a rather resolute stance in pricing it below its manufacturing costs, so we are not planning to perform a markdown,” he said.
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Via: MCV
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
