Sony wants to break even on PS3 by March

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 27th July 2007
Comments (10) Stumble
Metal Gear Solid 4 is going to be one of the first must-have exclusives for PS3 owners and will hopefully boost sales.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is going to be one of the first must-have exclusives for PS3 owners and will hopefully boost sales.

The PlayStation 3 is an opinion dividing machine, that much we can all agree on.

On the one hand, the machine is hideously expensive and Sony has earned scorn by treating US and European markets differently. The machine is also lacking in any real killer-titles, at least until Unreal Tournament 3 or Metal Gear Solid 4 hit shelves later this year.

On the other hand, it is a fairly stacked machine and the PlayStation 3 is arguably worth the cash, doubling as a Blu-ray player.

Still, Sony accepts that it is too expensive for them to be really comfortable with and sources hint that Sony may well be losing about $200 on every PlayStation 3 it sells. That's something they definitely aren't happy with and Sony Executive VP, Nobuyuki Oneda, has recently told press that Sony wants to try and break even on the PlayStation 3 by March 2008.

The main reason that Sony thinks it'll even be possible to reach that target is thanks to lowering production costs. The components for the Blu-ray drive are said to be falling in price now for Sony and the PlayStation execs want to switch from a 90nm chip to a much more attractive 65nm variant.

Don't get too happy at the news though as, even if Sony does reach its target of being profitable by March - which is highly unlikely in our opinion - then it won't necessarily manifest as a price cut for consumers just because Sony isn't making a loss.

Have you got a PS3 yet, or are you waiting for further price reductions? Which of the consoles do you currently favour; the gimmicky Wii, the faulty 360 or the expensive PS3? Let us know on the forums, accessed through your trusty PC.
Quote fwalm 27th July 2007, 12:13
i dont think they will make a profit for a long time yet maybe 2009 in March and I have my 360 which is yet to break and I hope it does so I have a reason to get an Elite but mines being reliable bar for the eating of my gears disc
Quote topher 27th July 2007, 12:18
Same here it will be along time before they make any money out of the ps3 console, but saying is they make their money from the games we buy.
Quote cjoyce1980 27th July 2007, 12:41
PS3 making profit full stop is a joke, another 360 user here, and had mine at launch and still going strong, no damaged disc either!
Quote mikeuk2004 27th July 2007, 13:21
Does anyone really care if they make a profit or not?? Only people that should care are the shareholders as its them that get richer or poorer. As long as the console sticks around for 10 years like Ps1 and Ps2 then im happy that Ill still have new games to play when I get one.

My 360 hasnt died and is now 8 months old but it does crash alot. Just hope it hangs in their for Halo 3 etc.
Quote devdevil85 27th July 2007, 16:58
My friend's 360 is crashing every other day and it's getting worse, but even so I would recommend he get another one or an Elite just because of the game selection so far. Yet, after this Xmas if Sony adheres to their promise of bringing multiple AAA titles to the console, along with Playstation Home/Achievements and maybe a price-drop then I may decide to get one, but that's gonna be a long shot.....
Quote completemadness 28th July 2007, 18:15
Quote:
The main reason that Sony thinks it'll even be possible to reach that target is thanks to lowering production costs. The components for the Blu-ray drive are said to be falling in price now for Sony and the PlayStation execs want to switch from a 90nm chip to a much more attractive 65nm variant.
Inst a BD drive a DVD drive with a BD laser (and maybe marginally different chips ...)

Why is it so expensive to produce them ....
Quote K.I.T.T. 29th July 2007, 20:50
correct me if I'm wrong but would moving to 65nm not decrease the number of CPU's they're able to turn out on a per wafer basis because of more CPU's not having enough operational cores to meet the requirements ( IIRC one or two cores can be faulty and the CPU will still be used)
Quote kempez 29th July 2007, 20:53
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeuk2004
Does anyone really care if they make a profit or not?? Only people that should care are the shareholders as its them that get richer or poorer. As long as the console sticks around for 10 years like Ps1 and Ps2 then im happy that Ill still have new games to play when I get one.

My 360 hasnt died and is now 8 months old but it does crash alot. Just hope it hangs in their for Halo 3 etc.
QFT

As long as they get that price down enough for me to buy one and keep the standard of the games up I won't give a monkeys left testicle :)
Quote completemadness 29th July 2007, 21:10
Quote:
Originally Posted by K.I.T.T.
correct me if I'm wrong but would moving to 65nm not decrease the number of CPU's they're able to turn out on a per wafer basis because of more CPU's not having enough operational cores to meet the requirements ( IIRC one or two cores can be faulty and the CPU will still be used)
it depends on the failure rate in 65nm

however, because the wafer size is still the same size, you get more CPU's out of a wafer, which decreases the cost of the CPU's (wafers are damn expensive)
Quote K.I.T.T. 30th July 2007, 00:46
Quote:
Originally Posted by completemadness
Quote:
Originally Posted by K.I.T.T.
correct me if I'm wrong but would moving to 65nm not decrease the number of CPU's they're able to turn out on a per wafer basis because of more CPU's not having enough operational cores to meet the requirements ( IIRC one or two cores can be faulty and the CPU will still be used)
it depends on the failure rate in 65nm

however, because the wafer size is still the same size, you get more CPU's out of a wafer, which decreases the cost of the CPU's (wafers are damn expensive)

that's fair enough, i was assuming a higher failure rate because of the increase in the degree of accuracy required at 65nm (although thinking about it that would probably have been accounted for in the fab process to start off with)
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