US Retailers Cut N-Gage Price

17 days after the system's initial release upon October 7, major American retail chains have already begun offering substantial discounts upon Nokia's N-Gage handheld. one as well as the other the GameStop and Electronics Boutique chains are now selling the cellular phone/game player hybrid online for $199 $100 not upon its suggested retail price.

GameStop's present is for a "limited time only" on the other hand it's not clear how limited that time may be. EB's tender makes no mention of a limited time, although it requires the harmonizing purchase of a T-Mobile phone service contract.

After the system's disappointing first attempt at American retailers -- research firm Arcadia Research reports that the N-Gage mov les than 5000 units into consumers' hands in its first week of release -- many bystanders predicted sharp price cuts in short order.

Nokia itself has highly touted a figure of "400000 units sold" worldwide in the N-Gage's first sum of two units weeks of release, but its language is misleading in that words immediately preceding [i]or[/i] following By "sold," it means "sold in to retailers," rather than "sold end to consumers" -- the mete "shipped" is usually used instead of "sold" to describe those figures. Nokia has nevertheless to release hard sell-through figures of its have a title to pertaining to any territory, preferring to tout the N-Gage's ostensible sales succes in subjective metes

EB and GameStop's price-cut impels offer a clue as to what might be behind that face of optimism, however. Specialty game retailers are cutting the N-Gage's price of their possess volition -- the Target big-box chain, by the agency of comparison, is sticking to Nokia's original allude toed retail price of $299.

Where the specialty market goe however, the mainstream market must necessarily tread on the heels of so we expect to diocese further discounting of Nokia's handheld in the coming days.

Copyright ?© 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserv Originally appearing in 1UP