PS3 Hardware May Finally Be Profitable in 09; Price Cut Possible?

Though the PlayStation 3 hardware has pretty much been bleeding money from the start, a fall in production costs may finally allow Sony to break even, or even turn a profit, on every PS3 console sold in 2009. This may give them the means to provide consumers with a much-needed price cut on the most expensive console on the market.

According to a recent Business Week article, Sony is still suffering a loss of about $49 per console. While this is a rather large loss, especially when compared to the profits being made by some of the other game companies, it is nevertheless a vast improvement from the losses sustained in 2006. Back then, the basic PS3 model cost Sony $805 to produce, and was sold for $499. A reduction in production prices since then has allowed Sony to produce the console for $448.73, and sell it for $399.

If this trend continues, better hardware and the integration of cheaper parts will reduce this loss even more in 2009, thus removing the final obstacle to a price cut. Whether or not Sony will take advantage has yet to be seen, but considering the low prices of the Wii and the Xbox 360, they’d be foolish not to.

Source: Teardown of Sony’s PlayStation 3

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