Miyamoto wanted a $100 Wii [update 1]
In an interview with Business Week (we've blogged it before), Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto explained that he had wanted the Wii to cost only $100 (likely he means manufacturing cost, though the retail price would shrink accordingly). Miyamoto then admitted that, had they not used NAND flash memory and other pricey parts, they "might have succeeded."
We currently don't know how much it costs Nintendo to make a Wii, but knowing that they are making money with every purchase it must cost them less than $250 (probably less than $200, considering the packaged sensor bar, Wiimote, and Wii Sports game). While we don't know how much the flash memory costs (there is 512 MB of internal memory), we found 1GB flash cards on NewEgg for only $22. How close to $100 did Nintendo get? What are these "other pricey parts" that might have been avoided?
[Update 1: The powers of the pro-Sony, anti-Nintendo god must have struck me with a golden apple. Obviously, one in my position cannot make such a mistake otherwise. Misrepresentation of Miyamoto quotation fixed.]
