Merril Lynch estimates $399 PS3 pricetag. $494 to produce.

Duh, yeah, all the console makers make profit with the games, but only if profits made by selling games can recoup the losses by selling hardware...MS is there to make money, not just simply overwhelm competition. I am sure MS is not willing to lose money 2-3+ years with X360.

 

I think cost-cutting the 360 for the PS3 launch would be a very risky move for MS.

Over here, Nintendo dropped the price of the Gamecube to $AU99 within six-twelve months (at some stores). That pretty much set it up as the "low-cost, low-return" option. In the mind of a lot of consumers, that gave the GC the image of being third place, since it was cheapest.

Not saying it *is*, but it's about consumer confidence. Dropping the X360 price may give Sony the "we're worth more!" image they want more than anything Sony could do themselves.

 

Ms cutting the price depends on sony i would say .

IF sony does launch at 400$ and ms is at 300$ there is no need to cut prices then . If sony launches at 300$ they might have to drop the price .

 

Nah, Even if Sony launches around same price as X360, MS will keep the price....MS will be careful, but price cut is not a good option, especially when X360 is still in its infancy. That is basically saying PS3 is better than X360, and price cut doesn't guarantee that X360 will surely outsell PS3...it is simply not a good plan in a long run. PS2 didn't cut its price even when Xbox launched at same price.

 

I find it immensely hard to believe that the projected PS3 cost is over $100 more than the 360. I mean, it isn't logical to assume that MS has to pay more for its CPU and GPU than Sony does?

I simply don't believe that the Cell costs THAT much more than the Xenon, or that the RSX costs THAT much more than the Xenos (hell, I would think MS has to be paying way more for the GPU at least).

A Blu-ray drive at $100 is absurd, I'd guess half that. Most people forget that standalone players require quite a lot of software/hardware that isn't necessary in the PS3, AND the companies selling standalone players use them as profit leaders (I would guess upwards of 30-40% for first gen players).

 

I believe it. Supposedly, MS has been extremely cost conscious on this build from day 1.

I think that Sony is either prepared to position itself as the higher priced "more powerful" system alternative OR... take a bath on costs to launch at the same price as X360.

I agree with jvd, if it's $400 for Sony and $300 for MS (which I would not doubt for an instant ... well okay $389/$299 ) there is no need to drop.

 

Maybe, but you forget to the uneducated masses (atleast in NA) the xbox brand is percieved as more advanced technology over the Sony brand at this time. They may percieve a $299 x360 as a deal compared to a $399 ps3. GC comparisons aren't as relevant considering the lack of adult oriented content in the early GC lineup. (blood and guts action games, fps, etc.)

 

The interesting thing to me is how will Sony sell any blu-ray standalone drives if consumers can get a game machine plus a blu-ray drive for less than the price of the standalone unit. Wouldn't Sony's electronics division be po'd?

 

Talking about stretching it...

 

I think as long as Sony launches in Spring (in NA) they won't have any problem with a high price tag. The hardcore fans will rush out and buy them anyway and they can then make it more affordable to the masses leading into the holiday season. This is actually similar to what they've always done, which is to launch at a higher price in Japan and then launch several months later in NA at a reduced price.

 

Reconcile this with Kutaragi's comments and I say it is spot on.

 

It all depends on when they drop the price. If they wait till the actual launch in the markets to drop the price then yea it will look bad . If they drop the price months before (Assuming ps3 will launch in the usa for the holidays ) like the summer it may not be a problem at all

 

Just 9 months or so at $300? That would only give the impression X360 has problems selling.

I second the question, though, why does everyone think MS´s costs will be lower than Sony´s? The HDD is sure to prove costly to them, the CPU is almost as big as CELL, and I´m sure Xenos is at the very least just as expensive as RSX. That eDRAM block doesn´t seem like a cheap thing to implement in the least.

 

Thats only if it launches at 300$ . But sure why not . I think everyone here will agreethat the ps3 will cost more than the x360. So the more money ms forces sony to loose the harder it iwll be for sony to sustain that loss and make it back

Cpu is smaller

gpu is in two parts both parts are much smaller than the rsx and combing them should not cost close to the cost of lower yields .

Ram will be cheaper in the x360.

Bus . There are less busses than the ps3 which will make the mobo cost less

Bluray . It will cost more than the dvd drive. Perhaps more than the dvd + hdd

 

I think it has to do with Blu-Ray more than anything else..I don't think there will be big difference in terms of silicon costs for MS or Sony, but considering PS3 will be first mainstream Blu-Ray player(I might be wrong here) so they assumed Blu-Ray will be big factor in terms of determining production cost for PS3.

 

How can you be so sure Xbox360 will cost less than PS3? I think 360 will debut at $300 and PS3 will follow suit and launch at $300. MS isn´t about bleeding Sony to death, they want to be profitable, so I don´t think what you are proposing is valid.

And you didn´t adress my point, a console product that can´t last even a year at its original introduction price will most likely give the impresion that it just isn´t selling.

CELL and XeCPU are roughly the same size.

Isn´t Xenos at ~300 transistors? I don´t think that makes for a small GPU. And I was under the impression that manufacturing eDRAM is very expensive initially, so that has to be a factor to be taken into account as well.

In this case, yeah half of it will be more expensive.

How big is the impact of this in terms of production? I can´t imagine it being that big a factor.

The last part is purely speculation. Blu Ray drive will be more expensive than a DVD drive, sure but how much more expensive? I think the HDD more than balances things out and even tips the scales in favor of HDD + DVD drive to be more expensive.

All in all, I can´t see this huge disparity of prices between PS3 and X360, which was my original point.

 

well, all except one.

 

I think the costs of the system will be less the parts are smaller and some things like the dvd drive is cheap and has been mas produced in other things .

To who ? In the pc sector most video cards are priced at 500$ for less than the first year . Why would it be diffrent ? Besides from that ms doesn't have to drop the price just by itself . They can do other things like lower the price through sales . Have bestbuy and kmart and walmart have sales on it where the product is cheaper than normal . It doesn't have to be a strait price drop like in years past

I believe that is wrong .

The gpu is in two parts . Its not 1 gpu. The gpu is made up of two diffrent parts that are later combined. So the yield of the xenos will be higher than if it was one part .

busses scale slower in price than ram speeds. That is why dispite 4 years of 256 bit busses in the high end they haven't filtered sub 200$ yet and even then at the 200$ price point its normal cards that are being phased out . It adds alot in layers and production problems . The more layers and complex the pcb the more expensive it is .

the 20 gig hardrive is very small and shouldn't be very expensive at all . 20 gigs on a 2.5inch drive format should be very cheap and so should 12 x dvd drives. Heck 16x dvd writers are very very cheap .

As for bluray i don't nkow the costs , all i know is it will be new and barely produced thus costing more than if it had been in production for awhile .

It will really come down to yields . How expensive wll the cell really be ?

Anylsts don't really just pick numbers out of a hat and some of the more respected ones are normaly close on thier comments .