Analysts Speculate on Wii Price Cut, Wii 2 at E3

Here's a big fat "IF," predicated on the theory that a recent Engadget rumor about a 25 percent Wii price cut to $150 in May is true. If true, say analysts, the price cut could mean that an even bigger announcement will come from Nintendo: a new game console system. While C&VG is calling it "Wii 2," the at-this-point imaginary new console from Nintendo could be a game changer. Nintendo does not ascribe to the long-haul 10 year life cycle that Sony and Microsoft have adopted. so I guess anything is possible but the IndustryGamers piece is more of a "what if" than rooted in reality..

The speculation comes out of an IndustryGamers story quoting M2 Research analyst Billy Pidgeon, EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich, and Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter. Naturally, all of these comments are speculation based on an unconfirmed rumor. It still makes for interesting reading:

"Wii is certainly due for a price cut, which would be good for Nintendo and for retailers. A Q2 price cut announcement would typically be an E3 event, so scheduling a cut before E3 would clear the boards for another, bigger announcement," Pidgeon said. "A new console would be pretty exciting, but it's a lot riskier for a vendor with a large active installed base to launch next generation and keep last generation's base active while the other vendors are still building out," he added. "Next generation timing and strategy is going to be interesting."

"Most video game companies withhold their biggest announcements until E3 and if Nintendo chooses to announce a Wii price drop before their E3 press conference, they must have something much bigger to announce," EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich offered. "There are very few announcements that would eclipse a hardware price cut."

"There is no way that anyone outside of Nintendo Japan would know about this until print ads have to be submitted for retailers, probably at most three weeks prior to the cut," said Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter. "I don't believe that the source is right. With that said, I think a cut in September is likely..."

I hate to admit it, but I have to agree with Pachter. Most of this seems unlikely.

Source: IndustryGamers by way of C&VG