Analysts hit out at 3DS' 'underperformance'

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata made the surprising move this week of apologising to early adopters of the Nintendo 3DS after

the handheld games console's price

was slashed.

We asked a number of analysts to comment on the reasoning behind Nintendo's latest move, with Adam Taylor, in-house analyst at social gaming company Adotomi, telling TechRadar:

"Such a severe price drop after the initial launch is by no means a slight to the early adopters, but reflects the lower than expected sales of the 3DS. Excitement has been muted and Nintendo needs a bigger than average price drop in order to hopefully regain some sales momentum and improve the overall health of the burgeoning platform.

"Once again, this underlines just how crowded the handheld platform market space has gotten in the last 12 - 16 months with dedicated systems under increasing threat from the smartphone gaming business."

Radical moves by Nintendo

Elsewhere, UK industry analyst Nick Gibson, from Games Investor Consulting told TechRadar, following the recent price slash of the Nintendo 3DS:

"The price cut was a genuinely radical move by Nintendo not only because of the size of the discount but also because it reportedly means Nintendo will be selling it at a loss, something it has rarely, if ever, done with its platforms in the past.

"However the cut and the measures taken by Nintendo since the cut was announced simply reflect the severity of the 3DS' underperformance and suggests also that it was significantly over-priced at the outset.

"It should be noted that the price cut was one of two major problems, the second of which – the paucity of quality 3DS software – will only be solved over time and with greater investment in new titles by Nintendo."

What do you think? Are you still planning to buy a new Nintendo 3DS? Or do you think this latest price mismatch from Nintendo might well spell the end of the dedicated handheld for serious gamers? Let us know in the comments.