Most if not all consoles initially sell their product at a loss. They recover it later on though. For example, the PS3 initially sold at about a $500 loss, but managed to break even a few years later after major restructuring, and now the PS4 is selling at only a $60 loss at launch.VG_Addict said:But they're selling the Wii U at a loss.
OT: Well this isn't good for Nintendo. I do feel that markets are really starting to cut down on Nintendo's shelf time, but at the same time I don't blame the stores if the console hasn't been selling well at all and the stores have had to reduce the prices of the consoles immensely to even try to get them to sell.
Nintendo dropped the ball extremely when it came to advertising their console, and that's still a problem here. People still think that the Wii U is just an expansion of the Wii that just costs more and don't know it's a new console, which shows how naming a console really has an impact here. Then they only advertise a few games every now and then, and even then if it's not first party then it's treated like crap. Not once has there been a Wonderful 101 ad on TV nor has there been one interrupting me as I'm watching a YouTube video, and what's the result? Wonderful 101, while it's an excellent game, has flopped completely. Hell Wind Waker U has been out on the eShop for a while now, no idea why Nintendo isn't releasing the physical copies at the same time as the digital ones. Especially since I know many people who do have a Wii U (myself included) are avoiding the eShop for a lot of things because of the fact that there is no account system at all.