Nintendo 3DS sales bounce back afer price cut
updated 12:15 pm EDT, Tue August 16, 2011
Nintendo sees 3DS price drop work in short term
Early results from Nintendo's 3DS price drop suggest that the cuts have had their planned effect in at least the short term. In the past week, sales in Nintendo's home of Japan shot up from under 50,000 a week to 215,000 after customers lined up to get the glasses-free 3D console at its much cheaper 15,000 yen price. Nintendo had only managed 109,000 for the entire month of May in the same country, Enterbrain said.
It's likely that the sales rate will drop in the following weeks, though by how much isn't apparent. Nintendo moved 350,000 3DS systems in Japan when it launched on February 26 and triggered shortages, but sales quickly tapered off and fell to 200,000 just a week later.
US data isn't available as Nintendo doesn't publish exact figures. NPD researchers also don't freely give out information. It's probable that American sales got a noticeable though not as pronounced kick in the same period with the new $170 price.
The system struggled to get acceptance before the price cut. At $250, it was not only much more expensive than a regular DSi but had a relatively poor game lineup and didn't compare well against the faster, more flexible, and cheaper Apple iPod touch. While a market still exists for dedicated game machines, the originally high price of the 3DS and its continued expensive per-game costs have hurt it next to less ambitious but all-in-one smartphones and MP3 players. [via Famitsu and TechCrunch]
