Wii U Price Cut Won’t Be Happening Anytime Soon

Nintendo has no plans to slash the price of the Wii U anytime soon despite lackluster sales, company president Satoru Iwata has confirmed.

In an investor briefing held yesterday following the release of Nintendo’s earnings report, Iwata said that the company will not be slashing the price of the Wii U for the foreseeable future. The reason, Iwata explained, is that the console is being sold at a loss.

“With Wii U, we have taken a rather resolute stance in pricing it below its manufacturing cost, so we are not planning to perform a markdown,” Iwata said. “I would like to make this point absolutely clear.”

In Nintendo’s earnings report, the company said that three million Wii U consoles were sold by the end of last year, which fell below expectations from analysts. Iwata admitted that part of the problem is that Nintendo has yet to communicate the “value” of their product.

“We are putting our lessons from Nintendo 3DS to good use, as I have already publicly stated. However, given that it has now become clear that we have not yet fully communicated the value of our product, we will try to do so before the software lineup is enhanced and at the same time work to enrich the software lineup which could make consumers understand the appeal of Wii U.”

Iwata, speaking to reporters in Tokyo after the briefing, said that Nintendo is working to address that by releasing several first-party games throughout the year.

Were you hoping to see a Wii U price cut, or are you fine with its current price?