Japan's Nintendo Co said on Wednesday it will cut the domestic prices of its DS handheld game consoles, slashing the price of one model by a fifth as it seeks to stimulate demand.

From June 19, the price of DSi model will be lowered to 15,000 yen ($165) from 18,900 yen, while the DSi LL model will be cut to 18,000 yen from 20,000 yen.

A Nintendo spokesman declined to say if the company plans to cut prices outside Japan too.

Nintendo, which competes with Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp in video games, has sold more than 30 million units of the DS in Japan and 125 million units worldwide.

Nintendo plans to launch a three-dimensional (3D) model of the DS in the financial year ending in March. The firm will unveil details of the new model at the E3 video game show in Los Angeles this month.

(Reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo and Mariko Katsumura; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

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