One of the consoles with the most scattered comments for Nintendo was the 3DSwhich at its launch cost $250 USD, a price that was the subject of controversy that year 2011. One of the people who was against the decision was the president of the American division himself, Reggie Fils-Aimesuggesting that it be reduced by at least $50 USD.
In the former president’s book, disrupting the game, It is affirmed that the businessman was pressuring the highest commands to have a price of $200 closed, requests that Satoru Iwata constantly rejected. Aimé was even asked if $220 or $230 seemed right to him, but he was adamant that the figure proposed at the beginning was correct.
As a result, the initial failure of the console was had, thus having to lower it $80 USD later. That would later help the company to remain stable during the active life of the Wii U. Device that fared even worse than 3DS in its first steps.
Here the statement of Reggie in his book:
Hardware retail margins are typically slim: about 4 percent. So even if we were to suggest $219 or $229, they are likely to price $249 on their own and get a higher margin. This would create a missed opportunity to maximize our profitability and potential future problems, as stores would never want to revisit a 4 percent margin on next-generation hardware.
The whole experience reinforced for me the need to act decisively in the face of a problem or an opportunity. With 3DS, we didn’t let the poor sales performance continue. We moved quickly to create a plan and implemented it with excellence.
The episode also reinforced that he fully considered the needs of his oldest clients. By implementing the Ambassador Program, we kept our most engaged fans, even when the price was drastically reduced. They remained supportive of the system and used social media to post positive feedback about the digital games we provided as rewards.
editor’s note: Something that can not be denied at all, is that the 3DS was successful according to its possibilities, but if they had listened to Reggie from the beginning, it is likely that the success would have been even greater. It is definitely a console that we are going to miss when its digital stores close, as well as its online multiplayer.
Via: gonintendo