PlayStation 3 Will Cost $900 to Build, May Be Delayed – Analysts.
Merrill Lynch Predicts PlayStation 3 Delay, High Costs

Sony’s PlayStation 3 game console may face delay as a result of difficulties with manufacturing of key components as well as high costs of materials, according to a report from Merrill Lynch research company. The firm suggests that initially the PlayStation 3 building cost will be as high as about $900.

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Wow, that'll be quite a loss for them wont it. I mean I have heard that companies don't make much on consoles anyway, but that is ridiculous.

M$ lose on the 360 anyway. Sony will have to lose money. Say, slashing the price to 5-7 k.

No one will buy a console for $500+.

I'll have to say as much as I love my Playstation games (and I am sure to love the new ones for the PS3) and even though I am a sucker for Playstation (having never owned a Xbox, yes, feel for me people) I doubt I'd pay that kind of cash for the machine.

Companies (Sony in particular, but others as well) don't expect to make a profit on console sales--profit comes from the income of selling the games for the console.

After all, it's only recently that Sony finally broke even purely for the PS2 (though they made huge profits with the games, naturally), and that thing was, frankly, overpriced for some time.

It's normal, though the PS3 being a showcase of a lot of new, unproven technology--blu-ray discs and the like--means that we should expect it to be expensive as ****.

Right that is exactly what I have heard. I have a friend who had owned his own gaming store a few years back. He said those same exact things. He too only made a profit off of the games not the consoles.

the consoles anyway are like a "gateway drug" anyway. lol you buy 1 console....and then buy and rent many games and accesories. so if they loose some on the console sale, o well. they will earn nice profits from games and accesories. also, if you think about it, alot of that is rummor, no real proof. i would think thouse numbers they stated would be comming from personal purchase prices. whereas a HUGE comepany can buy in bulk and usualy get a hefty discount. they may be expensive at 1st to make, but once the blue ray drives become largly availible for the public the production costs should come down, for the purchasing companies anyway. 500 is alot for a console, but you know as well as i do, there will be lots of people saving up to buy one.

lol Yes, people will. Serious gamers will. People who eat, sleep, drink, game consoles. I'm definately not one of them.. but people would/will.

My cousin already stated that he wants EVERYONE in my family to chip in and get him a PS3. He's like I must have it, cannot live without it.

I can only imagine how much they are going to sell it at if it costs $900 to make..

People - it will cost 900 for the original design, e.g. prototyping. but not each PS3 , 2 i doubt they will be 400-500 eahc. probably more like £250 (dont no wot in dollars) 3 yes they will make a profit eventually from games etc but only if it is an acceptable price in the first place

$800 is the production cost per unit acording to some report (that funny enough instead shown $900 as the sum).

True that cost will be higher that PS2 since IBM and Nvidia are involved and so its not only Sony but I serious doubt its $800 per unit.

Well, if it costs that much to make I'm assuming it won't be cheap. Xbox 360 is like around $500, I think anyway. I don't understand consoles, they all are the same to me. I have xbox and ps2, I really don't see a difference. Is there going to be a major difference between the 2 new consoles? I mean how much did it take to make the 360? I'm sure the company is going to want to make a profit from the ps3 itself when it first comes out since there's not a lot of games out there yet. I'm not expecting this to be cheap. Now I heard that the sims 2 MIGHT be made for the ps3, (the pc version) so if you take that into consideration, yeah, this can't be cheap. I really like to stretch my dollars so if it's more then $300 forget it. I'll wait till there are more games out for it then the price should drop, cuz they'd be making profits from the games. Huhh, the business course I'm taking this year is really paying off. ^-^

Eternal, the Xbox 360 can be bought for $300, it depends on the retailer and bundle (Most people are getting the $400 Premium bundle). There IS a major difference between Xbox and PS2, the Xbox has better graphics.

P.S. By the release of the PS3, hopefully the 360 Premium bundle will be $300.

I think what people are worried about is the fact that Sony is not exactly known for generosity....Microsoft can afford to take a hit for each individual XBox sale, since they've got a large profit margin coming from other products (see: Windows, Microsoft Game Studios, Licensed Software).

For Sony, these profit margins are much smaller, especially as of late, so they can't afford to take a large hit when it came to selling each PS3. Of course, they might just wow us and sell the PS3 for a scant $300 or something!

...okay, probably not.

Sony have tvs and camera also remember it will probs be £300 (I dont no about $)

Yes, but since the PS1, their video game line has been a HUGE part of their total income...to put it this way, in the rare event that the PS3 was a financial flop, the outcomes would be disasterous for the company, and there would not be a PS4. Same went for the PS2 in relation to the PS3 (of course, the PS2 wasn't a flop, so all was good).

Microsoft, by contrast, has only recently entered the console market, is a much larger, wealthier corporation--furthermore, their consoles aren't their big money-maker....Microsoft Software/Game Studios is. If the Xbox 360 flops (which is a possibility, though I don't think it will personally), Microsoft will still exist much as it does now--it'll still be a huge, corporate behemoth.

No.

Sony empire is huge, you are forgetting Sony is a major music label and Sony Pictures is not much smaller either.

MS depends on PC software only, so far their entertaiment sector have failed to turn a profit.

Your mistaken if thinking PS1 (that started as nothing more that a addon for Nintendo) started Sony empire, they strenght continues to be electronics and they can very well lose their gaming division without destroying the company.

Microsoft is not a "healthier" company by any means, they enjoy a near monopoly over PC OS that gives then such high profits but they are too dependent on that.

MS is healthier overall than Sony. Yes Sony has its fingers in a lot of pies but it is currently suffering across the board. Each of its divisions is facing stiff competition which saw the company's overall profits halve at the end of 2005.

Keep in mind that while the most public face of MS is its OS it enjoys incredible success in other key areas such as its advertising networks, server solutions, applications such as MS Word, etc.

No MS is not in an unhealthy state... nor is Sony knocking on death's door but they are in a worse situation financially than they have been in many years... and definately worse off than Microsoft.