I think I predicted this price point quite a while back, it makes perfect sense.
They are going to sell out no matter what price for Christmas. They are running low are Sharp LCD's, and who knows how many they can allocate to US/Japan for this year.
Whatever the price and whatever the shipment numbers, you'll see this fly off the shelves. I'm sure even non-Nintendo fans are going to take a look, this is going to target people looking for the "new" gadget in gaming.
Then, once they've sold a good 3-4 million at this amount in US/Japan, they can afford a $20 price drop right around the time PSP launches (probably next March, but who knows about a delay maybe).
Nintendo wants to make a profit on hardware, that was no secret. If people go back to old posts (don't know if it was GAF or neo-GAF) I remember saying the $199 price point was the probably route.
+1 my analysis and prediction, even though I was off initially on the upcoming pricecut for GBA:
http://forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=5755&highlight=$199
efralope said:
$149 for DS is too low considering the $99 SP currently in the market (which doesn't need a price drop anytime soon, considering the brisk sales)...
$199 sounds just about right for the DS, I'd be surprised if they launched at $180 considering the price of the two screens and how much more it packs than SP (also, my bet is Nintendo wants to make good money off the hardware anyway)...
In fact, I wouldn't expect a price drop for either when PSP launches unless it significantly affects sales...
Either way, expect launch quantities to sell out if there is a November launch...
Also, expect a successful run for DS no matter what the price, this thing, if it launches in Christmas, will have a lot of momentum going in the new year...
hmm, another prophetic post:
http://forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=5798&highlight=$199
efralope said:
$129 GBA vs. $69 GBC
is very different from
$99 SP. (maybe even $79) vs. $199 DS/PSP...
plus, a little jab at PSP:
http://forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=7938&page=2&pp=50&highlight=$199
BeOnEdge said:
you wanna pay $180 for a GBA with a scratch pad be my guest.
efralope said:
I'll pay $199 if it's that price, and looking at GBA vs. XBox sales, it's going to be interesting how DS does against PSP and Xenon in '05...
that said, it could all be placeholder data, in fact, considering the surprise (to me at least, considering they would have sold a ton at $100 anyway) GBA price-cut, I wouldn't be surprised now at a last-minute lowering of DS price if Nintendo manufactures more than they expect. In fact, maybe they are just lowering expectations so that gamers can say they'll wait till it's cheaper, then drop the price before it launches, rather than starting at $150 and have people say they'll wait till it's $120, start at $200 and have people say they'll wait till it's $180 or $150. Clever idea if true, but they really don't need to do that. If their upper price range is $200, they'll sell what they need to at that price...