Gizmodo: Prices

Nintendo Not Slashing Console Prices

Haroon Malik — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:35:00 EDT

Bad news, bargain hunters; Nintendo has gone on record saying there are no imminent price cuts for the Nintendo Wii or DS. Satoru Iwata, the company's president, said he did not believe in the "model" of price slashing, as it tends to leave early adopters feeling a little disheartened. Though we do agree, surely early adopters are well out of their honeymoon phase by now? With Nintendo's profits soaring to new heights, they're not exactly looking for a quick dollar, so perhaps the move makes a little sense. Still, Nintendo is not expecting to make as much cash on DS hardware sales in the coming year, which means there are a few more eggs in a Wii basket somewhere. The exact DS stats breakdown like this:

The big N anticipates it will shift 28.0 million DS units from now till March 2009, which is a reduction in the numbers sold in the previous year, where 30.3 millions units made their way to sweaty palms everywhere. Personally, I think Nintendo have their figures wrong; it'll be 28,000,001 units, as I left my DS on a flight I took yesterday. Life sucks. [Associated Press]

Blu-ray Prices Higher Than Ever: Man, This is Going to Piss You Off

Sean Fallon — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:48:40 EDT

I suppose that it is not all that surprising to find out that without competition from the HD DVDs camp, prices for Blu-ray players have gone up. According to data collected by Pricegrabber.com, Blu-ray players have hit a high average of $400 per unit for the year—about the same price they were at this time last year. This comes after the aggressive price cuts Blu-ray manufacturers employed at the height of the HD DVD battle. While these players probably would have been $1000 without a format war (thank Toshiba for that one) these prices are not moving in the right direction. Update: While this trend is notable, we'd like to keep in mind that a) prices are generally set by retailers, and MSRPs themselves haven't changed and b) since this is the "off season" for electronics sales, other products such as flat panel TVs may also be seeing a real-price increase based on a dearth of sweet rebates and other buying incentives. [Pricegrabber and Tom's Hardware]

iPhone Prices Compared in Four Countries (Verdict: We're Doing Alright)

Jason Chen — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:14:13 EST

setteB.IT took it upon themselves to chart up the four different iPhone providers in four different countries and see who's getting the best deal. Apparently, it's Orange (France) if you're looking at the cheapest overall price, but their plan only includes about 240 minutes and limits both Wi-Fi and EDGE data. In comparison, AT&T's got the most full-featured plan at unlimited Wi-Fi, EDGE, and 450 minutes of talk time—some good news in a time when our dollar's crumbling faster than an osteoporotic old man who got hit in the knee. [setteb.it]

Cheap LCDs to Blame for CompUSA Store Closing?

Travis Hudson — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 11:00:56 EST

Manufacturers of cheap flat-panel TVs, like Vizio and Olevia, could be partially blamed over the recent closing of 128 CompUSA stores and 70 Circuit City stores. Obviously, the low prices of the off-brand LCD flat panels have put a lot of pressure on the "premium" flat-panel manufacturers like Sony and Panasonic to drop prices to compete. The price drops all around have squeezed the margins and hurt the brick-and-mortar retailers like CompUSA and Circuit City, in turn partially causing some of the recent closings. The general consensus at yesterday's U.S. Flat Panel Display Conference was that there are too many brands on the shelves and that the discounts need to stop. Maybe it's just a hunch, but I don't think that opinion will be too popular with the consumers. –Travis Hudson

Flat-panel TV makers sing the discount blues [News.com]

Start Saving, Vista Prices Leaked

Travis Hudson — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 16:16:22 EDT

The Canadian Microsoft retail pricing page had the various versions of Microsoft Vista listed along with their SKUs. It immediately got taken down, but not before they were recorded for the world to see. Here is the big 'ole list. I busted out the abacus and converted all of the prices to USD. I'm such a nice guy.

Full Version
•Vista Ultimate $450
•Vista Business $341
•Vista Home Premium $269
•Vista Home Basic $233
Upgrade Version
•Vista Ultimate Upgrade $269
•Vista Business Upgrade $224
•Vista Home Premium Upgrade $179
•Vista Home Basic Upgrade $116

In all reality the prices are pretty average. Sure the $450 standalone Ultimate version is a bit high, but most users will be buying upgrade versions, and $116 isn't that bad for an entire operating system. – Travis Hudson

Vista prices revealed! [ZDNet]

PS3 Games to Cost A Lot? Or Not?

Charlie White — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 12:56:11 EDT

Our nerdy cousins at Kotaku, of whom we are not the least bit ashamed, point an article in PlayStation Magazine where Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) President and CEO Kaz Hirai reassures us that pricing for the upcoming Blu-ray-packing PlayStation 3 games will be, um, hopefully not too expensive. Here's his convoluted quote:

"Generally speaking, over the past twelve years or so, there has been a consumer expectation that disc-based games are maybe $59 on the high end to $39 on the low end. So, what I can say now is, I think it would be a bit of a stretch to think that we could suddenly turn around and say 'PS3 Games now $99.99.' I don't think consumers expect software pricing to suddenly double. So, the quick answer is that we want to make it as affordable as possible, knowing that there is a set consumer expectation for what software has cost for the past twelve years. That's kind of the best answer I can give you. So, if it becomes a bit higher than $59, don't ding me, but, again, I don't expect it to be $100."

So, somewhere between $59 and $100, right? Or something. Why didn't he just say, "I don't know yet."? – Charlie White

PS3 Games Bling-Bling Expensive? [Kotaku]

Tuning Fork

johnb — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 13:30:43 EDT

It's Getting Better All the Time

by Brian L. Clark

I've bitched on several occasions about the high price of HDTV, particularly flat panel HD sets. Well, the tide finally seems to be shifting in consumers' favor. Earlier this year, the price of flat panels for 32-inch LCD TVs dropped about 10 percent, from $540 to $485. For panels 42 inches and above, the price dropped a little further, from $1,040 to $925, or about 11 percent.

The good news is things are likely to get better. "TV makers are expected to increase their output of large screen LCD TVs in the next few years," says David Narranjo, VP of consumer electronics research at DisplaySearch. "With recent announcements by Samsung, Sony, and Sharp to expand and build new panel production facilities, we do expect significant growth in the greater than 40-inch segments over the coming years."

Indeed, major manufacturers are building plants like their feet are on fire. Taiwanese LCD maker AU Optronics, which announced this week it would acquire Quanta Display Inc., is opening a new plant later this year. Overall flat panel production in Taiwan is already up about 37 percent over 2005, according to Taiwan's Industrial Economics & Knowledge Center. Given he government's declaration that flat panel displays are a developmental priority, downward pressure on flat panel pricing should continue.

Meanwhile, electronics giants Samsung and Sony—which also happen to be the largest LCD makers—announced in early April they planned to invest $2 billion to build a massive new LCD facility in Korea that would focus on panels larger than 40 inches. The plant, scheduled to open in fall of next year, will be capable of putting out some 50,000 LCD panels/month. You can also look for these two companies to use this partnership to develop newer technologies (like Organic Light Emitting Diodes) that yield flatter, higher quality panels for next-generation high-definition televisions.

LG Philips has stepped up production. Even Hitachi is considering building a new flat-screen plant. So what happens when manufacturers ramp up production to meet anticipated demand? "With a growing amount of panel capacity coming online optimized for the 32-inch and larger LCD TV market," says Narranjo, "TV supply and demand should loosen, resulting in further price reductions for the larger screen segments."

What that means is the $1,400 32-inch LCD TV you buy today could well be priced below $1,000 by the end of the year. Folks looking for larger sets are likely to find today's $3,000, 42-inch set drops to less than $2,000. That's a savings of 28 and 33 percent, respectively.

Sometimes, it pays to be patient.

On the other hand, if consumers are really smart, we'll consider the possibility of holding out to drive prices down even further. So, with that in mind, I'd like to call for a temporary boycott of flat panel LCD TVs. Don't buy one until the prices have fallen to a more reasonable level. I myself promise not to buy the 32-inch LCD I want for my bedroom till it drops below $750. If you, dear reader, promise to do the same, I'll have one less thing to bitch about.

Brian L. Clark is a reporter and consultant on all things digital, runs the The Tech Enthusiast's Network, and writes for Money, Men's Health, and Laptop. Read more Tuning Fork here.