Billsman
September 25th, 2003, 1:16:24 PM
Nintendo Cuts GameCube Price to $99.99
September 24, 2003 10:01 PM EDT
SEATTLE - Nintendo of America said Wednesday it will slash the price of its GameCube video-game console to $99.99 to jump-start sales in North America, where the company lags behind competitors Sony Computer Entertainment of America and Microsoft Corp.
The price drop from $149 - the second discount in a year and a half - comes as the industry heads into the all-important holiday season, which accounts for a huge chunk of annual revenue.
George Harrison, a senior vice president for Redmond-based Nintendo of America, said the move demonstrated that Nintendo is determined to make the GameCube a success. The new price should also help the company appeal to the mass market, he said.
Nintendo's price reduction - as well as the upcoming releases of new video games - could help the company narrow the gap between it and Microsoft in North America, said Billy Pidgeon, senior analyst for Zelos Group in San Francisco.
Sony is by far the leader in latest generation of game consoles. Its PlayStation 2 has worldwide sales of 60 million consoles, including 20 million in North America.
Nintendo has sold roughly 5.5 million GameCubes in North America since its launch in November 2001 and about 10 million worldwide. Microsoft has sold about 6.2 million Xboxes in North America and 9.4 million worldwide.
But overall, sales have not been as strong this year as Nintendo hoped, and its parent company, Nintendo Corp. in Tokyo, said in August it would temporarily halt production of GameCubes to reduce inventory.
Sony spokeswoman Molly Smith said the company does not plan to change the price of the PlayStation 2, which sells alone for $179.99 or in a package with an adaptor for online game playing and one game title for $199.99.
Same for Microsoft, which offers a $179.95 package including an Xbox console, two months' free trial on its Xbox Live service and two games.
"At this point we're very comfortable with our offer," said Xbox spokeswoman Molly O'Donnell.
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On the Net:
http://www.nintendo.com
http://www.playstation.com
http://www.xbox.com
September 24, 2003 10:01 PM EDT
SEATTLE - Nintendo of America said Wednesday it will slash the price of its GameCube video-game console to $99.99 to jump-start sales in North America, where the company lags behind competitors Sony Computer Entertainment of America and Microsoft Corp.
The price drop from $149 - the second discount in a year and a half - comes as the industry heads into the all-important holiday season, which accounts for a huge chunk of annual revenue.
George Harrison, a senior vice president for Redmond-based Nintendo of America, said the move demonstrated that Nintendo is determined to make the GameCube a success. The new price should also help the company appeal to the mass market, he said.
Nintendo's price reduction - as well as the upcoming releases of new video games - could help the company narrow the gap between it and Microsoft in North America, said Billy Pidgeon, senior analyst for Zelos Group in San Francisco.
Sony is by far the leader in latest generation of game consoles. Its PlayStation 2 has worldwide sales of 60 million consoles, including 20 million in North America.
Nintendo has sold roughly 5.5 million GameCubes in North America since its launch in November 2001 and about 10 million worldwide. Microsoft has sold about 6.2 million Xboxes in North America and 9.4 million worldwide.
But overall, sales have not been as strong this year as Nintendo hoped, and its parent company, Nintendo Corp. in Tokyo, said in August it would temporarily halt production of GameCubes to reduce inventory.
Sony spokeswoman Molly Smith said the company does not plan to change the price of the PlayStation 2, which sells alone for $179.99 or in a package with an adaptor for online game playing and one game title for $199.99.
Same for Microsoft, which offers a $179.95 package including an Xbox console, two months' free trial on its Xbox Live service and two games.
"At this point we're very comfortable with our offer," said Xbox spokeswoman Molly O'Donnell.
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On the Net:
http://www.nintendo.com
http://www.playstation.com
http://www.xbox.com