Video game giant Nintendo Co Ltd said on Tuesday it would cut the price of its GameCube machine in Japan to 19,800 yen ($157.90) from 25,000 yen in a bid to regain its price advantage in the hotly contested game console market. The price cut, to take effect on June 3, would make GameCube the cheapest game console on the Japanese market and is a direct result of the company's decision to move production to China.
Microsoft Corp's Xbox carries a price tag of 24,800 yen and Sony Corp's PlayStation 2 retails for around 26,980-27,800 yen.
The cut was widely expected. On Monday, Nintendo slashed GameCube's price in the United States by about 25 percent, following a 20 percent price cut in Europe earlier this month.
"As we've said before, we've figured out how to cut costs by shifting production to China, and as a result we were able to offer cheaper prices," spokesman Hiroshi Imanishi said.
Ben Wedmore, an analyst at HSBC Securities, said Nintendo was swimming in cash and could easily afford to cut prices.
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