Speaking to British trade paper MCV, Gizmondo Europe MD Carl Freer has claimed that that the Gizmondo portable console will be sold for under £100 ($194) by this time next year and probably under £50 ($97). The Gizmondo is currently priced at £229 ($444).
The console has so far only been launched in the UK, although a last minute change to the hardware, which saw the core Nvidia graphics chip being upgraded, has meant that only a few thousand have so far been pre-sold via the company’s website, although no customers have yet received their handheld. Although some units are still expected to reach UK High Streets before Christmas, the console will not be widely available until February.
The company claims, though, that it has already accepted over 560,000 pre-orders via its site, and that it is aiming for a global installed user base of five million within the next twelve months. This is certainly an eye-opening claim and an ambitious target, given the immense competition from the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable during this time.
