The Wii U has yet to hit stores and analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities is already predicting a price cut in 2013.
Nintendo recently held several events announcing the Wii U packages and the next-gen console’s launch date. The Wii U will be available in two variants, a white Basic Set selling for $299 and a black Deluxe Set that has a slightly higher price tag of $349. Pachter believes that the Wii U was priced slightly higher than what people were expecting because Nintendo wanted to maximize profits from hardcore Nintendo fans:
“We think that Wii U’s price points are appropriate given likely demand from Nintendo’s core fanbase, but believe that pricing will be too high to sustain demand given current competition from other consoles and tablets.
“In our view, Nintendo was smart to introduce the Wii U at higher price points in order to maximize initial sales from its core audience. We expect 1 – 1.5 million Wii U units to be shipped into the US by the end of GameStop’s fiscal year (January).”
Pachter believes that the earliest we’ll see price cuts is after the summer of 2013, definitely before next year’s holiday season. Pachter makes these assumptions on the notion that the Wii U will be seeing competition from Sony’s Playstation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox 720. He expects additional news on the Xbox 720 and the Playstation 4 to “to materialize in the coming weeks.”
Fans were hoping to learn more about the Xbox 720 and the Playstation 4 last June on E3 2012 despite claims from both companies that their focus is still on their current gen consoles. However, after both consoles were a no-show, people started accepting the fact that the next-gen consoles from Microsoft and Sony may still be some time away.
Will you be getting a Wii U early? Or will you be waiting for the predicted price cut? Share your thoughts in the comments below!