Mainstream Australian newspaper article on the switch
Nintendo Switch off to wobbly start as pricing, timing unveiled
Nintendo Co.'s new Switch gaming console is off to an underwhelming start.
The new machine, a tablet-sized device with wireless controllers that can be used anywhere but also connects to TVs, will go on sale March 3 at a price of US$300, with a brand-new Zelda game as its launch title. None of that, however, was enough to convince investors that it will be a big moneymaker for the Kyoto-based company, whose shares fell 5.8 percent after Nintendo executives held a presentation in Tokyo on Friday.
"The pricing and game titles were as expected; the stock was bought up on hopes and sold on the fact," said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute. "The first two weeks of sales will be critical for Nintendo, and they will have to sell the 2 million units they forecast for the quarter. The Switch's success will be determined at the start."
The price surpassed most analyst estimates. Mizuho Financial Group Inc.'s Takeshi Koyama last week wrote he expects the Switch to go for around US$249 to $279. Macquarie Securities analysts analysts David Gibson and Aya Haruyama wrote this week they expected a price of around $250. At $300, the Switch would cost more than Sony's $260 PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's $240 Xbox One, based on current US retail pricing.
...Still, that means the Switch will have to compete with smartphones, which most people already own and use. It's unclear if consumers will want to carry another bulky device when smartphones already fill their spare moments with millions of games, apps and videos.
"There is a possibility that this proposed new game playing experience will not immediately be understood," Takeshi Koyama, an analyst at Mizuho Financial Group, wrote in a report last week.