Topic: It worked; well done Nintendo. 5000% unit sales hike in Japan

"According to Famitsu, the 3DS sales on its home turf has jumped 5000 per cent for the week August 8-14 in response to a price slash of roughly $80.

207,000 more consoles entered circulation; a figure that tops the number of handhelds sold during the week following launch earlier this year. Impressive, since Nintendo only managed 700,000 units worldwide in the previous three months.

Looks like the 3DS is finally off and flying after the stuttering start. Nintendo must be pleased with this. "

Can't wait to see sales overseas

Yep, I reckon Nintendo's in for a good couple of months now.

So it's a really critical time for it. Nintendo has to use this momentum to start wooing third parties, beef up the eShop offering, and get people engaged with the console all over again.

Can they do it? Quite possibly. I think the launch was very humbling to Nintendo, and this is a company that can learn from its mistakes.

This is a relief, so glad that sales have jumped by 5000%.
Maybe this might spark 3rd party interest.
Well done Nintendo

and there was doubt? LOL
Ninty will sell no matter how things look

The reason for the price cut was that Nintendo selling is not a guarantee...

Do you guys think they lose money on each sale for the 3DS now? If so, then really what's the point? ._.
But enough pessimism! That's outstanding numbers, right there. Hope it sells in the states

Loss leading. It's a good thing. Nintendo should have done it from day 1.

But enough pessimism! That's outstanding numbers, right there. Hope it sells in the states

I think it will. At least for the next couple of weeks there will be pretty robust sales.

The point is they will make more then enough by the GAMEs they are selling. In your lifetime how many games you've think you've bought? Multiply that by the number of people who bought a 3DS. You see the cash roll right in. Not including downloadables.

While first party game sales are a big thing for Nintendo, the real value in selling lots of units of hardware is - the more hardware units sold, the more Nintendo can charge third parties for licensing.

Licensing is where the money is for Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft.

Ah I didn't know that. Thanks for the lesson.

<_< wasn't meant to be a lesson. Just clearing up a common misconception.

Just take the compliment. Stud.

well if it's for the next couple of months, that's enough time until what will be like 75% of the worthwhile 3DS games so far being released in a month. In theory, that should help.

Good for them.

It is the Gilette business model. You sell an item at a loss, in the example of Gilette that would be a razor, which then goes on to increase sales of another item sold at a profit, i.e. Razor blades.

Nintendo get a large licensing fee for every game sold, so recoup any loss made on the hardware. Sony and Microsoft both strictly adhere to this model and so make huge losses on hardware sales. I think Microsoft have barely broken even in their console business.

Eventually though the price of manufacturing and components reduces to such an extent over a product life cycle that the consoles themselves become profitable. That is the reason that Sony talk about 10 year life cycles etc - they need a 10 year cycle to turn a profit this generation.

What is unusual about the 3DS cut is it is unusual for Nintendo to actually use this model - their recent consoles have made a profit on the hardware from day one.

I am worried that people will expect Nintendo to sell consoles at a loss from now on...
Nintendo do not have anything else major to fall back on like TV's, Speaker systems or Windows software.

Let's hope they can implement this to good affect.
I'm sure the 3DS won't really have too many problems once it has a host of quality games, especially considering the price it's now selling at.

Yeah.
It probably gives Nintendo a few things to think about regarding how they're going to handle the Wii U.
I'm sure they'll work out a strategy that's profitable for them in the end though.

See, i told you guys not to worry (<- i was worried)