longy999
08-03-2011, 02:27 AM
1779
Following the 3DS price cut announcement yesterday, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said he is taking a 50 percent pay cut.
Last year, Iwata reportedly made a base salary of $770,000 with performance-based bonuses that could see him earn over $2 million. Other Nintendo executives, including designer Shigeru Miyamoto, are also taking pay cuts of 20 and 30 percent.
"It is quite unusual for us to change the price in less than half a year from a product's launch. I am aware that realizing both the short-term and the mid-to-long term profits is one of my responsibilities as part of the management," Iwata told investors.
"Needless to say, the deduction of the fixed compensation is what we volunteered to do in order to show our sincere attitude and to fulfill our responsibility. We really must recover our financial performance and take Nintendo back into the position in the marketplace where it is well appreciated."
The 3DS' price will be dropped from $249.99 to $169.99. Iwata said one reason for the price drop was it has taken longer for the handheld to appeal to a mass audience.
"For us to maximize the effect of the anticipated titles of this year end, it is necessary to greatly expand the installed base (before the launches of the anticipated titles) so that the appeal of the new software will be able to spread to consumers in a short period of time," he said. "Without creating such a circumstance, we would not be able to realize explosive sales in the year-end sales season. This is one reason for the markdown.
"Another reason is, we thought that eliminating the concerns of future hardware expansion early on would make a great difference to how retailers and software publishers will allocate their energies.
"In short, we have concluded that, for Nintendo 3DS to expand enough to become the successor of Nintendo DS, we have to take a drastic approach."
Following the 3DS price cut announcement yesterday, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said he is taking a 50 percent pay cut.
Last year, Iwata reportedly made a base salary of $770,000 with performance-based bonuses that could see him earn over $2 million. Other Nintendo executives, including designer Shigeru Miyamoto, are also taking pay cuts of 20 and 30 percent.
"It is quite unusual for us to change the price in less than half a year from a product's launch. I am aware that realizing both the short-term and the mid-to-long term profits is one of my responsibilities as part of the management," Iwata told investors.
"Needless to say, the deduction of the fixed compensation is what we volunteered to do in order to show our sincere attitude and to fulfill our responsibility. We really must recover our financial performance and take Nintendo back into the position in the marketplace where it is well appreciated."
The 3DS' price will be dropped from $249.99 to $169.99. Iwata said one reason for the price drop was it has taken longer for the handheld to appeal to a mass audience.
"For us to maximize the effect of the anticipated titles of this year end, it is necessary to greatly expand the installed base (before the launches of the anticipated titles) so that the appeal of the new software will be able to spread to consumers in a short period of time," he said. "Without creating such a circumstance, we would not be able to realize explosive sales in the year-end sales season. This is one reason for the markdown.
"Another reason is, we thought that eliminating the concerns of future hardware expansion early on would make a great difference to how retailers and software publishers will allocate their energies.
"In short, we have concluded that, for Nintendo 3DS to expand enough to become the successor of Nintendo DS, we have to take a drastic approach."