Nintendo raises Wii price in UK

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 11th March 2009
Comments (20) Stumble
Nintendo raises Wii price in UK

Nintendo claims it has been forced to raise the UK trade price of the Wii by £20.

Nintendo has today announced that it will be raising the trade price of the Wii in the UK by £18 - £20 GBP because of the continued devaluation of the Pound Sterling in the global economy.

The trade price, which is the one charged to retailers, not customers, hasn't been fully disclosed in the announcement but it does seem like the RRP for customers will stay at £179.99.

The worry is however that, if trade price raises but the RRP doesn't, then the already low margins suffered by retailers on game consoles will be further diminished. Traditionally consoles have made profit from game sales, not the actual hardware; like shaving razors the profit comes from selling the blades, not the handles.

"Due to the severe and continuing depreciation of the pound, we are, unfortunately, having to raise our trade price to UK retailers of Wii hardware," Nintendo said to GI.biz. "The price that they then offer to consumers is, of course, up to the retailers."

Naturally, if margins for retailers fall too low then shops may choose to up the cost of the consoles, or the games, in order to increase profits.

"We are only – reluctantly – raising our trade price now to retailers due to unprecedented and sustained depreciation of the pound. This is a problem brought about by extreme currency fluctuations that are a symptom of the global economic situation," said Nintendo.

Is the British economy in dire straights or is Nintendo just over-reacting? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Quote Rich_13 11th March 2009, 17:31
they've got to stop selling so many some how.....
Quote Stickeh 11th March 2009, 18:08
As if the wii isn't expensive enough, its just a gamecube in a nicer case....They must be raking it in on the hardware.
Quote mikeuk2004 11th March 2009, 21:03
Fools
Quote benjamyn 11th March 2009, 21:06
Wow I can't believe the Wii and the Xbox 360 ELITE are the SAME price!

Trust Nintendo to make a console that gets more expensive as a generation progresses!
Quote Sir Digby 11th March 2009, 21:16
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stickeh
As if the wii isn't expensive enough, its just a gamecube in a nicer case....They must be raking it in on the hardware.

Yup, the Wii makes a profit even on just hardware sales - same with the DS
Quote Lazarus Dark 11th March 2009, 22:38
Wow. This is pretty balsy in my opinion. Not only is the Wii way, way overdue for a price drop, but they are raising it in the UK?
Quote itazura 11th March 2009, 22:40
not surprised, nintendo obviously think they can get away with it, and probably will. i would assume the general public will just think it's a store based price hike -- like wii fit being 99.99 in places like gamestation.
Quote naokaji 11th March 2009, 22:43
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lazarus Dark
Wow. This is pretty balsy in my opinion. Not only is the Wii way, way overdue for a price drop, but they are raising it in the UK?

The pound lost tons of value, so it's clear that imported goods get more expensive, however, with everyone in fear of loosing the job it would be the better idea to drop the prices to never before seen lows to make sure people still buy.
Quote Panos 11th March 2009, 22:55
The question is the pound lost it's value against which currency?
We lost 0.10 euro, the last 1 year, and we are rougly the same as the dollar as we were before christmas 07.
(When USD fall down due to economy)

Yen is know atm that's highly overpriced, making Japan's exports crumble.

So all these are excuses from Nintendo, as with many others in the UK market.
Considering ofc that the raw materials costs have droped the last 8 months down quite a lot.

All these time we were paying twice as much than the others. Now we pay extra because the pound is weak?
BOYCOT THEM NOW.
Quote TurtlePerson2 12th March 2009, 00:14
Nintendo to England: You're economy is doing poorly right now and your currency is worth less, so we are going to charge more for our products.

I'm glad that I stopped buying Nintendo products years ago, this sort of move is shameful. It's kicking someone when they're down.
Quote Furymouse 12th March 2009, 03:56
Makes sense. If youre going to lose money selling something, why sell it?
Quote B1GBUD 12th March 2009, 08:24
A result of quantitative easing?
Quote [USRF]Obiwan 12th March 2009, 08:56
1 euro is 0.90 pounds. maybe I will shop overseas (I'm in the Netherlands). I do not have to pay import taxes either. maybe 20 cents more downwards and it is uk shopping time ;)
Quote Bauul 12th March 2009, 09:13
On a purely scientific economical basis they're acting logically, but it takes real balls to presume there is enough demand to continue driving sales with a) a price hike and b) much reduced spare cash in the economy.
Quote shigllgetcha 12th March 2009, 09:20
this wont stop it selling.

i actually live in ireland on the border so the low value of the pound is great for me:)
Quote sandys 12th March 2009, 10:55
Blimey the Internet would of exploded if Sony had done something similar, despite the fact that they loose on the hardware whereas Nintendo don't.
Quote mikeuk2004 12th March 2009, 12:22
Quote:
Originally Posted by sandys
Blimey the Internet would of exploded if Sony had done something similar, despite the fact that they loose on the hardware whereas Nintendo don't.

Iaye, the worse fact is that nintendo has never done a price cut since its been out and its been out as long as the PS3 which has had several drops in price. So now up the price goes up and the fools keep buying this rebranded failed game cube.

Im not interested until its £50, until then i have my 360 and ps3 and pc.
Quote lewchenko 12th March 2009, 13:22
Its happening everywhere. Apple recently upgraded their iMac range. Previous top end model cost £1350.. now it costs £1800.

They blamed the currency.

The new models are practically identical to the old ones as well... so its not like you get a new 'flux capacitor' for your money.

People will still buy the Wii.... its less than £200 still which is the important factor.
Quote hrp8600 12th March 2009, 15:02
was going to buy the kids one when it had a price cut.
Oh well looks like they are going to get a 360 and make do.
Cant wait till Nissan and Honda try this lol.
Quote kylew 12th March 2009, 21:39
Quote:
Originally Posted by hrp8600
was going to buy the kids one when it had a price cut.
Oh well looks like they are going to get a 360 and make do.
Cant wait till Nissan and Honda try this lol.

All those children missing out on Nissan and Honda cars, they'll have to make do with Ford and Vauxhauls now...

:D

I don't think it's too bad, though I do reckon they're doing it out of greed really, they've never had sales like this, and they're still not slowing down.
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