Further analysis of the NPD's May video game sales data shows that the Wii's 289K sold for the month was a 58 percent decline year-over-year and the worst total for the Nintendo platform since January 2008. It's pretty evident that demand for the Wii has taken a hit in the last few months, and now 31 months after launch perhaps Nintendo should finally consider dropping the price.
Speaking to IndustryGamers, EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich commented that Nintendo really does need to do something if the company wants to be able to hit its fiscal targets.
"For the Wii, we do expect a price cut in 2009 or some type of re-bundling, which may add a AAA title, such as Super Mario Galaxy, and keep the $249 price point. One element is clear, for the Wii to hit Nintendo's fiscal year estimates, they must either cut the price, introduce a new hardware SKU, or lower fiscal year forecasts. The price cut or a new hardware SKU, which will likely include additional game bundling, are the most likely," he told us.
That said, Divnich still believes the Wii is strong. It's just that it's been affected along with all the other hardware on the market. "While year-over-year sales continue to decline, the Wii still nearly matches the sales of both the PS3 and Xbox 360 [combined]. Further, the Wii's home console market share in May was 48%, nearly identical market share to lifetime console sales. I believe this is a reflection of the current health of the market and not a negative indication that the Wii is performing poorly. In other words, the PS3, 360, and the Wii are equally underperforming; it's just more noticeable with the Wii due to the tough comp numbers," he explained.
As for Sony, Divnich is still anticipating a price cut on PS3 this summer. "I believe the ball is in Sony's court. They have the highest priced and lowest performing platforms in the industry. It is up to Sony to change the competitive landscape," he said.
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