Rumor: Wii U has $180 worth of Parts... meaning it will retail at $300 or more?

[garyopa]

The 'Raw' Bill of Materials. It won't be sold under $300?!



According to 'Forget The Box', the estimated cost of the upcoming Wii U console comes in at around $180. Adding Marketing and other costs, they say it will retail at $300 or more.

According to website Forget The Box some sources close to 'manufacturing and distribution for Nintendo consoles', have told them that the full bill of materials for the Wii U comes to about $180 USD, with around $50 of that going to the controller. Adding labor, marketing and other costs, this means the machine is retailing at no less than $300.

“Cutting production costs to maximize profits is Nintendo’s main concern with the Wii U. They are cutting costs in the Wii U’s hardware to build back confidence in investors. Nintendo wants investors to view Wii U as a less risky proposition. ”

They also detail a few of the Wii U components, like the NFC and Cameras used on the controller:

The new NFC capabilities for each new Wii U controller costs no more than $5 to implement, and the prices of NFC implementation in mobile devices is expected to fall below $1 in the near future. Our source explained: “NFC capabilities are a drop in the bucket for Nintendo. As NFC becomes more mainstream in mobile devices, the price for NFC implementation will rapidly decline. Nintendo is jumping on NFC because of a projected cost decline in the technology.”

[..]

“The cameras in the Wii U controller are an estimated manufacturing cost of $6. They are slightly better quality than the 3DS and DSi cameras. The touch screen has a manufacturing cost estimated at $14.”

Additionally, they say Nintendo is trying to keep hardware costs down to maximize profits.

“Nintendo chose an economical GPU and CPU that could keep up with the performance of today’s current consoles, but keep hardware costs down to maximize profits. Nintendo got a bargain price on the custom GPU and CPU that the Wii U uses. There is a bigger focus on downloadable content, applications, video content, digital distribution, and services to create a stream of revenue. Investors will be ecstatic with the news.”

Of course, even if the 'Raw' Bill of Materials cost is real, that doesn't mean the price tag mentioned is the one that is going to be used. We will have to wait for this E3 to find it out.

NEWS SOURCE #1: http://www.forgetthebox.net/mag/cult...ii-u-price.php
NEWS SOURCE #2: http://kotaku.com/5900153/rumor-the-...sold-under-300

Our thanks to 'Gauss' for this news story!

[MadonnaProject]

At least for the first few months, before having the price cut by 40%.

[wewii]

Well that's just pricing skimming at the very begining of the product life cycle.

Hold off for a couple months like with the 3DS.

[msanchez]

If the console B.O.M. is really $180 then I'd say u pwards of $360 this being nintendo that we are talking about.

[billysastard]

If the console B.O.M. is really $180 then I'd say u pwards of $360 this being nintendo that we are talking about.

$300 sounds about right to make barely any profit on the machine once you include all the other stuff like production, shipping, warehousing, advertising, packing, software and retail chain profits.

[msanchez]

$300 sounds about right to make barely any profit on the machine once you include all the other stuff like production, shipping, warehousing, advertising, packing, software and retail chain profits.

I don't think ninty go for "barely" when it comes to making an initial profit off of their hardware. As much as I don't trust ms, and I loathe sony... I do appreciate them selling their consoles at a loss (it's all the other sh*t I don't appreciate, more so sony's outright violation of my rights). As a consumer, it just looks to me like both ms and sony have more confidence in their machines, than nintendo with their "let's get a quick buck out of the early adapters" mentality.

I'd probably do the same thing as ninty, though probably a bit toned down. I think the way ms release consoles (let's assume that they work) is the best way, because while sony does take a big loss, they're initial pricing is just ludicrous. I guess the vita wasn't as bad as I was assuming, but then again I just considered the absolute worst case scenario ($400+). They are showing their true colors with the memory sticks though. I think I saw a 16gb for $50... I bought a 16gb m2 stick for a sony ericsson phone I had like 4 years ago and it can't have cost me $40 (I wouldn't have bought it) and it wasn't some special either.

[IJTF_Cinder]

I'd bet at least 30% of the cost, is in that damn controller...

[billysastard]

I'd bet at least 30% of the cost, is in that damn controller...

less than 25% of the parts cost

[LKJHGFDSA]

I hope it's worth more than that.
Especially considering the fancy controller.

[billysastard]

I hope it's worth more than that.
Especially considering the fancy controller.

no, the fancy controller is like all controllers a pretty cheap thing to make and bloody expensive at retail. a rule of thumb is that the cost is generally around 33.3% of the retail price of any controller for any system.

[Diztructor]

I think I saw a 16gb for $50...

really?? that store is raping you then, my local store vita memory cards have droped quite a bit since launch, i got a 32GB for £49.99

[trancehead]

really?? that store is raping you then, my local store vita memory cards have droped quite a bit since launch, i got a 32GB for £49.99

sounds about right
$50 is around 30 Pound give or take.
and you cant even compare like that.
you need to work out average hourly wage in the country. the more hours you have to work to afford something, the more expensive it is.
you're an idiot

[Diztructor]

sounds about right
$50 is around 30 Pound give or take.
and you cant even compare like that.
you need to work out average hourly wage in the country. the more hours you have to work to afford something, the more expensive it is.
you're an idiot

how can i not compare?? that he moaned his 16GB was expensive then i stated that i got a 32GB for a couple of quid extra, assuming his store would charge sh1t loads.

love the idiot phrase yet you make such pointless BS about having to work more hours to be able to affored things.... this is life matey if you want the good things in life you have to work for it, but just because you work more hours it doesnt make the cost of things go up lol

[mattias800]

I'm probably getting all three new consoles, but if I can choose only one, I'll go with the most powerful one.
Which obviously won't be this one.

[JonathanD]

This came in my email this morning from one of the larger online retailers.
Vita cards are still expensive.


"Patriot LX Series Class 10 16GB Micro SDHC Flash Card Model PSF16GMCSDHC10 (16GB)
$13.99
Free Shipping!"


On the actual topic at hand, I have to wonder what one person would know the cost of the unit and the controller. This information would have to come from some one pretty high up in Nintendo to have access to it. It's not like the controller is manufactured at the same facility as the system itself. Maybe the same company runs both? If thats the case then it would have to be some one higher up in Foxcon?