Nintendo to raise price of Wii in UK

Price to retailers to go up £20

11 March 2009 22:38 GMT / By Verity Burns

Nintendo has said that it will be bumping up the price of its Wii console in the UK due to the depreciation of the pound.

The company announced it will be raising its trade price for UK retailers by around £18-20.

If retailers pass on this increase, the console - currently priced at around £179.99 - will reach close to the £200 mark.

"Due to the severe and continuing depreciation of the pound, we are, unfortunately, having to raise our trade price to UK retailers of Wii hardware", said Nintendo.

"The price that they then offer to consumers is, of course, up to the retailers".

It added: "We are only – reluctantly – raising our trade price now to retailers due to unprecedented and sustained depreciation of the pound. This is a problem brought about by extreme currency fluctuations that are a symptom of the global economic situation".

It remains to be seen how these increases affect the shelf price we see, but we can only hope that such a competitive retail environment will keep it down as much as possible.

Full tags

Gaming, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo, Biz