PS3 Production Costs Halved

[Jimmy 2004]

BusinessWeek is reporting that Sony has managed to halve the production costs of the PS3 since November 2006, suggesting that the company could now be making a profit on each 80GB console it sells. In an article analysing Blu-ray, the website comments that the cost per machine is now around $400, compared to $800 when the console was launched. This would mean that Sony could be making a profit on the 80GB model, which retails for $499, and would be making much smaller losses on the $399 price tag of the 40GB model. Despite the lower production costs, which are being largely attributed to a reduction in the parts count, Sony’s games division is still expected to see overall losses of $1.4 billion this fiscal year, although that’s down from $2.1 billion last year.

Source: BusinessWeek

[Dark_Webster]

Perfect... perhaps we can see a massive price cut in a near future?

[tigger]

Or maybe it means the quality is lower now?

[Silverel]

Originally Posted by tigger69

Or maybe it means the quality is lower now?

Lol...

But the lowered price would sell better, and be justified at the same time! C'mon, you know the average consumer doesn't give a damn what's inside of it. They just see PS3, with a cheaper price-tag. Only the few that notice the difference would be looking for the beefier hardware. If they do cut back on quality it'll be the game designers that suffer the most. Nothing like having to cut out shine and sparkle cuz the box can't handle it anymore.

[newtekie1]

Originally Posted by tigger69

Or maybe it means the quality is lower now?

Nah, they just cut out the PS2 hardware, which made a big impact on the number of parts required to build a PS3. Less parts means less production costs. Plus I am sure it has become cheaper to produce Blu-Ray drives in a year, and other parts have most likely come down in price also.

[1c3d0g]

Agreed. Plus lower heat dissipation (from 180~200 to 130~135 watts) is pretty good for just a CPU die shrink. When the GPU is shrunk to 65µ, the PS3 will show even better energy consumption numbers.

[Ravenas]

Originally Posted by newtekie1

Nah, they just cut out the PS2 hardware, which made a big impact on the number of parts required to build a PS3. Less parts means less production costs. Plus I am sure it has become cheaper to produce Blu-Ray drives in a year, and other parts have most likely come down in price also.

That's exactly right. They gave people the choice to get the 80gb with the emulator or the 40gb w/o the emulator. It's a smart move by them because Sony is beginning to learn not to force products like that on the consumer. Yes, they are still forcing Blu-ray on the consumer, but I have a feeling in some time that will change.

[WarEagleAU]

Its terrific news. LAter on this year or next year, the price should be below 300 bucks to make a ps3.

[TheGuruStud]

Originally Posted by Ravenas

That's exactly right. They gave people the choice to get the 80gb with the emulator or the 40gb w/o the emulator. It's a smart move by them because Sony is beginning to learn not to force products like that on the consumer. Yes, they are still forcing Blu-ray on the consumer, but I have a feeling in some time that will change.

Technically, as far as gaming only goes, they're not forcing Blu. New games need higher capacities than what a measly dvd9 can hold (disc swapping is lame). The 360 will suffer b/c of this. The consoles are still pretty early in their life, but they've already outgrown DVD9s. Combine that with the lack of a HDD for the 360 and you've got major problems down the road.
M$ took a gamble on speed to market and quality/perf. I think in the end, they will ultimately lose this one. Sony has fucked up enough, but they're still a freight train chugging along and really can't be stopped.

[Ravenas]

I can't agree more. With all of the new features that the PS3 is getting and the tremendous game line up coming to the PS3 in 2008, it will be hard to compete with Sony this year.

[newtekie1]

Originally Posted by Ravenas

Yes, they are still forcing Blu-ray on the consumer, but I have a feeling in some time that will change.

The games themselves are on Blu-Ray, so they aren't going to ever be getting rid of the Blu-Ray aspect of the console. And the games are eventually going to start needing those Blu-Ray discs.

[Triprift]

Originally Posted by Ravenas

I can't agree more. With all of the new features that the PS3 is getting and the tremendous game line up coming to the PS3 in 2008, it will be hard to compete with Sony this year.

+1 for that this is gonna be the ps3's year.

[LiNKiN]

Well sooner or later when these things cost even less to manufacture, they will pass the savings on to us!