10 replies to this topic

[Zinix]

According to a new teardown analysis by research firm IHS, the assembly and combined cost of the components used to build the PlayStation 4 is estimated at $381 US, which is only $18 shy of its retail price in North America.

Previous reports state that thin gross margins on electronic products like this are a rarity, but this is nowhere near as drastic a margin as the PlayStation 3's, which sold at $599 US at launch and cost a whopping $805 to build. Even as costs came down later in the console's lifecycle, Sony was cutting retail prices, and they were still selling at a loss in 2009.

“If Sony could build the PS4 for a lower cost it would do so" said IHS analyst Andrew Rassweiler in an interview with allthingsD. "But if history is any indicator, it would also lower its retail price.

"It looks like once again, when it comes to profits, it’s all about the game titles."

 

http://www.ign.com/a...er-retail-price

 

 

Not nice.. @_@ 

[Gimbal]

Well at least it's better than last time.

[Foot]

Trust me, their losing ALOT of money. A lot of people are confused on this whole pricing. The retailer generally takes 1/4 of the cut, no more, but they can take less which is when the price is discounted at certain stores. In actuality, $100 from that $399 is going to the retailer. Another instance is the return deposit. With each console sold, a portion of that is also a "return deposit" meaning if someone brings back their console, Sony gets that money back. I'm not entirely sure about how much that is though...

But yeah, Sony's losing ALOT

[tboss]

i was expecting something along the lines of 450-550 to build. but if its that cheap, then cant wait for 450-500 dollar PS4 laptop, along with a 50 doller cheaper XB1 laptop.

[grahamf]

Huh? $500 laptops are crap.

For gaming.

A desktop, on the other hand, is possible.

[tboss]

Huh? $500 laptops are crap.

For gaming.

A desktop, on the other hand, is possible.

 

why not a $500 gaming laptop instead of a $500 doller normal laptop?

[xile6]

Yep, that's how it normally is.

The 3ds was sold at a lost and the ps4 was said to he sold at a lost before it was released.

Hell I think the wii u is even boarder lining that.

 

But they plan to make there money on the games

[Nollog]

http://bgr.com/2013/...icing-analysis/<br />Estimate may be off.

[Cozmo]

I heard it tanking now BC of a bunch of issues like psn down, something about the tray not opening, over heating, otherthings lol so price may not be the biggest issue here lol

[DexterousGecko]

I was under the impression that this is normal for consoles, losing money on the hardware but making it back with games.

[Alex Atkin UK]

I was under the impression that this is normal for consoles, losing money on the hardware but making it back with games.

 

It is.  Nintendo are the only company not willing to do it which is why they get so much flak for charging more for less capable hardware.

 

Unfortunately this is also why people under-value console hardware so much.  People expecting the new consoles to be so much more powerful than they are when it just wasn't economically viable to do so.  Why?  Because last generation Sony/Microsoft took much bigger losses on the hardware at launch, so big they cannot afford to do it again this time.