PS3 price could drop $100 due to Blu-ray diode supply
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ May 7th 2007 at 8:35PM }
Hope springs again for gamers who just can't bring themselves to drop $600 on a PS3. DigiTimes reports that Sony's blue-violet laser diode manufacturing plant will increase production and this could, "according to Taiwan-based makers of game consoles and components," drop the PS3 price by $100. Now let's see if those savings are passed on to consumers. Despite what Sony says, this magical $100 reduction is being batted around due to tech upgrades in the console and other factors discussed by analysts.
The article also discusses the production cost drop of the Xbox 360. According to research firm iSuppli the cost to manufacture the Xbox 360 is now $323.30, while it profitably retails for $399. The PS3 costs $840.35 to manufacture, in its current state of production, and retails for $599. We'll have to wait to see the NPD sales data later this month to see how well the PS3 sold in April and if more fuel gets added to the price-drop fire. Although, if the PS3 had a game other than Resistance it might be selling better. Oh well, the purchase of a PS3 was an investment in the future, wasn't it? At least the PS2 is still worth every one of the 13,000 pennies it costs to purchase.
Update: DigiTimes used data from last November's iSuppli report and marked it as May data. The comparison of estimated material cost is valid for PS3 and the Xbox 360 in November of '06. Chances are production costs have declined further since. iSuppli plans to do a new cost analysis soon. [Thanks James]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Harbl @ May 17th 2007 6:38PM
Console prices don't drop in price that soon. Not even a year after launch will they drop the price, unless they really cant move consoles. 360 is close to two years out and it's still $400, so I give PS3 more than a year before they start to chip away at the price. Or at least release a game good enough for a bundle.
Draco @ May 7th 2007 8:47PM
why are you paying 130$ for a PS2? it costs 119$ Canadian here.
alienclay @ May 7th 2007 9:07PM
thats 12,999 pennys there, unless you want to add tax which is regionaly subjective.
Feep @ May 7th 2007 9:08PM
From an electrical engineering standpoint, a "diode" is a one-way conducting device fabricated on the premise of a p-n junction, in which one semiconductor is doped with n-type material and pressed up against another doped with a p-type material, inducing a space charge region.
With that in mind, what the hell is a "blu-ray" diode? Diodes are not lasers, they do not focus lasers, or read data, they're an unbelievably small and basic component in electronics. I don't really understand this nonsense.
Cheez-It @ May 7th 2007 9:09PM
This is incredibly imbecilic and irrational speculation.
Why the fuck would they pass $100 savings to the consumer and continue taking massive losses, at an increased rate? The stupidity of this hope defies all logic.
(Argue that it will increase userbase and thus titles will sell more and make up the $. Refuted by the fact that $500 is still damn expensive and it will make relatively little difference.)
alienclay @ May 7th 2007 9:10PM
while i doubt the price of the ps3 will drop soon (oct 07 at the earlist), this is also a good sign that blu-ray players in general will be able to drop their prices as well as sony is a primary supplier of the things to other CE brands.
Brian @ May 7th 2007 9:25PM
PS3 $500.00 OR XBOX 360 Elite $400.00 OR XBOX 360 $300.00 OR XBOX 360 Core $200.00 OR Wii $250.00 ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Heliophage @ May 7th 2007 9:33PM
Laser diodes, #4. Very similar to LEDs. When an electron in the p or n region is in the same place as an electron hole, it falls in place and emits a photon.
I'm not too familiar with the inner workings of Blu-ray technology, but I'm assuming that 'Blu-ray' diodes are the blue-violet laser diodes that Blu-ray/HD-DVD use in their players.
Bob @ May 7th 2007 9:42PM
Well Feep, I'd have to say that if you are an electrical engineer you are a very bad one. A laser diode works on a similar principle to LEDs (light emitting DIODES). You may want to keep your "knowledge" to yourself next time. This is coming from an actual electrical engineer so consider it professional advise.
gregory mitchell @ May 7th 2007 9:57PM
Ok No.1 damn BOB I would think at the stage in life that you are in that you wouldnt have the time to post on a site called "joystiq".
2. This sucks because i wanted the 20Gb version which means it would have been 400. which would have been the sweet spot. Sony is really playing keepaway with me....oh well
Tom @ May 7th 2007 10:10PM
Well, I'm an Electric Engineer from the year 2419 and would just like to point out that the PS3 also has a Flux Capacitor, a Fission Reactor, and a Hyperbolic Inverter integrated into its Jazzword-o-tron 5000 processor... I'm sure those added significantly to the production cost.
John Doe @ May 7th 2007 10:11PM
So it goes from ridiculously overpriced to outrageously overpriced. Well its a start. wake me when its in the $300 range.
Aex @ May 7th 2007 10:28PM
If the Xbox 360 makes a profit on their hardware why did they report a massive loss last quarter? They claimed it is due to the Xbox 360 hardware, I don't understand. All I can figure is iSuppli isn't as accurate as many hope. Anyone care to clarify?
Dan @ May 7th 2007 10:31PM
I'd pay $600 dollars for it if there were any games to play on it. But right now, I can fold on my PC, and get grand theft auto 4 on my 360.
All I can say for sony is: OH... TEH... NOES!!!
Chris Putnam @ May 7th 2007 10:54PM
@1:
Console prices drop when the market demands it, and when the production costs allow it - it's just a coincidence that this has usually happened around 1.5 years into a console's lifespan. Sometimes the second requirement is pushed to the side if pressures from the first are strong enough. Example: the original XBox had its first price drop (by a full 1/3) just 6 months after its release, because the PS2 had a price drop that same week.
At this point the PS3 is in the same underdog spot the XBox was in. It needs a price drop, and desperately. If they've knocked production costs down, Sony would be absolutely insane not to drop the price this year (actually, they would be insane not to drop it even if they hadn't reduced costs - they have no choice). The question isn't whether it will happen, but when, and by how much. I personally think it'll take at least a $200 drop before they really start moving systems.
Sony could still be hoping they can hold out at this price until some of the big-ticket games like MGS4 and FFXIII start coming out, but they'd be stupid to try. A likely date for a drop, I think, is just after the release of Halo 3. Microsoft could be thinking about dropping around then too, and then they'll REALLY have Sony bent over a barrel unless the PS3 responds.
Of course, I don't think anyone would disagree that sooner is better.
Snukadaman @ May 7th 2007 11:00PM
"Console prices don't drop in price that soon. Not even a year after launch will they drop the price, unless they really cant move consoles."
umm i dont think they are really moving consoles.....only things that are moving are the wii...ps3 needs a price drop badly....100 bucks and a couple of games they can get out of this slump..but ill wait for the coming 200 dollar drop
Aberu @ May 7th 2007 11:04PM
Yeah like ya know resistance is totally only l33t game like ya know an stuff:
Big games out right now for PS3:
F.E.A.R.
Spiderman 3
Motorstorm
Armored Core 4
The Godfather The Don's Edition
Splinter Cell Double Agent
Genji: Days of the Blade
Tony Hawk's Project 8
Virtua Fighter 5
Fight Night Round 3
Oblivion
Enchanted Arms
Resistance: Fall of Man
Blazing Angels
Virtua Tennis 3
NBA Street Homecourt
NBA '07
Big games coming out for PS3:
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Lair
Metal Gear Solid 4
Assasin's Creed
Transformers
Heavenly Sword
The Darkness
Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Killzone 2
Army of Two
Stranglehold
Warhawk
Mercenaries 2
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Conan
Eye of Judgement
Monster Kingdom
Grand Theft Auto IV
Alone in the Dark
Afrika
Tekken 6
Rock Band
Guitar Hero III
Gran Turismo 4
Fatal Inertia
Golden Axe
Rainbow Six Vegas
Unreal Tournament III
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
Haze
Time Crisis 4
Turok
NBA Live '08
Got deleted last time in another topic, but this my list. Read it and weep about your misinformation.
Aex @ May 7th 2007 11:07PM
@Chris Putnam
For the most part I agree with you, its when you get down to Microsoft's strategy I disagree. I don't think MS should budge from their price until the PS3 matches or passes the Xbox 360 price. They should make as much money as they can at their current price points.
Also, I don't think they want to force Sony's hand this early in the game. If you back a beast up against a wall, is when its true fangs show. MS should take a wait and see approach, instead of an aggressive one.
Nino @ May 7th 2007 11:14PM
Aberu, half of those are on the 360 and some aren't even out yet. Guitar Hero III? You do know that is coming to the Wii, right?
Aberu @ May 7th 2007 11:15PM
@18 And you could be like Nintendo and rip people off with obviously inflated prices too if you want. It costs 158 bucks to make a wii. That's a pretty dramatic difference between the retail price isn't it? What do you want more, a company to make money on their systems. Or a company to sell you something at a price that forces them to invest in YOU?
Heliophage @ May 7th 2007 11:16PM
@Aberu
Not that it's pertinent, but very few of those by percentage are "Playstation 3" games. It's usually not best to post multiplatform titles as a reason to buy a console.
Aberu @ May 7th 2007 11:17PM
@19 Hence the "big games out on the PS3" and "big games coming out on the ps3" parts that you obviously didn't read.
And the same argument could be used if people say X-Box 360's have so many games and all. You could just say, well half those are on PS3 , and PS3 gets MGS4, FFXIII, etc... Seriously the argument was mainly there to show how wrong someone is when they say the only game on the system is Resistance. It wasn't there to say that PS3 is better than 360 or anything.
Ryan @ May 7th 2007 11:34PM
here's a quick breakdown of Aberu's list;
*=on 360
(gamespot scores in parentheses)
Big games out right now for PS3:
*F.E.A.R. (7.1)
*Spiderman 3 (6.6)
Motorstorm (7.9)
*Armored Core 4 (7.7)
*The Godfather The Don's Edition (7.6)
*Splinter Cell Double Agent (8.0)
Genji: Days of the Blade (6.4)
*Tony Hawk's Project 8 (7.3)
*Virtua Fighter 5 (8.1)
*Fight Night Round 3 (8.2)
*Oblivion (9.6)
*Enchanted Arms (6.8)
Resistance: Fall of Man (8.6)
*Blazing Angels (6.6)
*Virtua Tennis 3 (8.2)
*NBA Street Homecourt (8.0)
NBA '07 (4.9)
out of the 17 games he mentioned:
13 are available on the 360 (77%)
5 had a score below 7 (30%) (that just screams must have)
Lord Chako @ May 8th 2007 12:10AM
It's not like going from $600 to $500 is magically going to make ps3's fly off the shelves.
There won't be a exponential increase in sales, until they hit the $300 price range.
Even so, I'm sure microsoft and nintendo will be there to counter whatever price cut sony can muster.
And aberu,
Casual gamers don't buy consoles now, because of games that are coming out in the future.
That's the equivalent of me purchasing a hd-dvd player, because eventually harry potter will come out on it. Or a blue-rey player, because eventually spiderman 3 will come out on bd.
(These are just examples, I really couldn't give a rats ass about either of those movies. Give me Fight Club and Cool Hand Luke, and that's a different story.)
It just doesn't work like that.
You're average joe needs to have a reason to plop down $500-1000.
People don't just spend that kind of money on something, in anticipation of something good will eventually come along.
Wes @ May 8th 2007 12:21AM
Aberu, I think you took the joke about R:FOM out of context. I believe you took it to mean that R:FOM is the only PS3 game out there. I believe the writer mean this to be more of a joke and he meant R:FOM is the only 'good' game worth getting that you couldn't get you if decided on the 360.
As Ryan was kind enough to point in your list, there were only 4 non-xbox 360 games provided. One of which had a score of 4.9 and another 6.4. Granted, two games were rated between 8-9 and 0 from 9-10.
Versus if you look at the list of xbox 360 games currently out, not currently available for the ps3, its a fair bit more than '4 / 2(worthwile)'. Granted, xbox 360 users can't fold at home and is there you can put a price tag of curing cancer?
dsub @ May 8th 2007 12:23AM
If PS3 drops to $500, then 360 will drop to $199/299/379.99 in a heartbeat. I think the only reason MS HASN'T dropped the price is because they are in a nice spot right now. They want to be cheaper than the PS3, and slightly more than the Wii. A $199 core system though would sell like crazy.
Wes @ May 8th 2007 12:27AM
Lord Chako,
I agree, people buy xbox 360s now because they can play every great game already on the xbox 360 the moment they take it home. They can also purchase some games fairly cheaply too like Saints Row and Stars Wars Lego II (its good for kids) can be picked up as platnium hits. Xbox 360 purchases can also play all the great? games? on the ps3 minus '4' games listed by aberu, 2 of which have fairly bad reviews.
I guess the equivilent metaphor would be. '
Hey Johnny! Its christmas! Come onnnn come onnnn open your present! Its a shiny new BIKE FRAME!!!', says mother and father Sony, 'Come on! Get on board Johnny!'
'But, how will it move without the wheels?'
'Don't worry, they are coming! NEXT YEAR! or maybe even sooner. They might even be really large, fanatastic grand scale wheels!'
'Ohhh k'
'But wait! There's more Johnny! If you sit on top it and close your eyes, you can imagine your in ancient japan, fighting actual real histoical battles. Look! There's a giant crab!'
'This is lame, I am just gonna go walk to my friend's Jimmy's house and play with his skateboard, it came with wheels. [xbox 360] or maybe I'll just get some exercise and go for a walk in the park, playing freesbie, bowling or some other small game [wii]'
Purple Haze @ May 8th 2007 12:46AM
Aberu your dumb!
idioteraser @ May 8th 2007 1:36AM
The reason why the xbox 360 hardware would have caused such a massive loss may have to do with how accounting handles the whole xbox 360 affair. They may account shipping, advertising, game development, fees with getting the xbox 360 games online under the heading xbox 360 hardware.
Also we know that Microsoft flooded the market with xbox 360s to retailers to get their 10 million figure. Guess how many units are in the microsoft warehouses not sold to retailers? Keeping those units in warehouses makes microsoft lose a lot of money plus they may have accounted the xbox 360 elite under the xbox 360 hardware losses. Depending upon how they handled the increased manufactoring of the xbox 360 to flood the market they could very well have bleed money. It can costs hundreds of millions to get a factory up and running.
Also just because a company improves their manufactoring so the products cost less to make doesn't mean it will cost less to the consumer that buys the product. Especially when the product sends the company into the red as is. No price cut to the unit. Sony will want every single cent they can squeeze out of the PS3 production to halt the flow of money out of Sony corp.
Aberu @ May 8th 2007 1:28AM
Purple Haze's comment owned me the most IMO.
But you can have all those games, and play Blu-Rays out of the box. You can also play over 99% of all PS1 and PS2 games out of the box. This is of course if you want to turn this into my system vs yours.
Geki @ May 8th 2007 2:32AM
How about dropping the price in Australia, Sony. We're already paying more than the rest of the world for an inferior product (don't say we didn't want backwards compatibility). We're playing $250 AUD more than the US, no technically they can afford to drop the price here if they reduce diode costs.
Catprog @ May 8th 2007 5:13AM
to 22
The problem with including xbox360 games in your list is more people will buy it on the cheaper console.
ill trooper @ May 8th 2007 5:33AM
"21. @Aberu
Not that it's pertinent, but very few of those by percentage are "Playstation 3" games. It's usually not best to post multiplatform titles as a reason to buy a console."
I disagree - Multiplatform games count too. If you have a PS3, you can go to the store and buy Tiger Woods, Madden, Oblivion, Splinter Cell:DA, Fight Night 3, Call of Duty 3, etc., and play the games. Sure, these are also on the 360 - but you can still play these games on your PS3, if you own one instead of a 360. Honerable mention that it's also nearly totally compatible with the PS2, so you have a game like God of War 2 available every now and then.
It's the false pretense that people use to criticise the PS3, to say it only has 'Resistance' and 'Motorstorm.' The real problem you're trying to address is the lack of quality exclusive games, which it's not the same thing as multiplatform games being non-existant for the PS3.
Sony's problem is this: The PS3 - Why buy one? People buying a next-gen console for the first time are faced with the question of "Is it worth paying $200 more to play games that are essentially visually indiscernible from the versions on the $400 Xbox 360? And have inferior online capabilities?" The PS3 is not able to differentiate itself yet from the 360 in any way other than negatives like "More expensive" and "lack of Gears of War."
Sure, you're probably better off with a 360 right now- I own all three new consoles and the 360 is my most-used, and most opted-for when buying a multiplatform game right now, because the majority of the people I play games with online have 360s - but the 'one good game' gag has run it's course... The PS3 is starting to come into it's own as well. If you only own a PS3, there are games to play.
FrankTheCrank1 @ May 8th 2007 2:53PM
Watch 360 month to month sales. 500,000 for the first quarter this year isn't exactly gangbusters.
I'm sure Redmond is getting a little nervous now that there are two more players in the "new" next gen space.
I can't wait to see second quarter sales figures. If this trend continues, expect M$ to drop the price to push sales up.
bootsielon @ May 8th 2007 8:48AM
The PS3 has a new motherboard. The emotion engine was removed, and cell now moved to a 65nm process. How come the motherboard keeps costing the same as what was estimated last year? How can a non-proprietary HDD that has less capacity cost more than a proprietary ("Elite") HDD with more capacity? What is "Other components" that appear on PS3 and not on 360? Why does it cost the same as what was estimated last year despite the fact that it has a new motherboard? Why are they still using the year old cost for the diodes, despite the fact that Sony will now sell those at 8 dollars (including a small profit), not 125? Why is "Chasis and related" so much more expensive on PS3 than 360 "elite", despite the fact that PS3 is pretty much built to be assembled and disassembled easily?
Besides, it makes no sense to drop the price after the huge loss sony has been taking. Whoever suggested that is a moron. It's too early now. By holidays a lot more components will have dropped in price or will have been eliminated from the motherboard.
This "analysis" has no credibility at all. It looks like they're meassuring the cost of an Xbox 360 Premium, and not Elite. The only thing I believe to be relatively true is the Optical Disc Drive costs (but that should drop really soon, if not already has), and the Motherboard, but that's just because MSFT had a one year head start to get there. Then again, MSFT is having difficulties to reach 65nm process with its processor and GPU, while sony has already removed the EE and is probably installing 65nm cells on the newest PS3s.
By the end of the year, I bet costs of PS3 making will have cascaded too much to give any credibility to this report, even when it was an initial report.
Heliophage @ May 8th 2007 10:27AM
@33
I understand that multiplatform games on the PS3 give you something to play if you have one, but as an argument for why you should have a PS3, titles that can be played elsewhere are rather weak support.
It's the exclusives that make or break a consumers desire to buy in a console war as it matures. I'd go so far as to say that the PS3 is selling for the most part off of brand name alone thus far, being the successor of the inarguably successful Playstation 2 and a choice for those who absolutely hate Microsoft and/or Nintendo.
I won't lie, though, a price drop around the holidays would significantly increase my desire to own one, especially with their actual 9.0-10.0 exclusive titles coming out.
SuicideNInja @ May 8th 2007 11:41AM
"why are you paying 130$ for a PS2? it costs 119$ Canadian here."
Why are you buying a PS2 in the first place? They are ebay junk nowadays "broken PS2"...the list is endless. Sure, there's a couple of games...but after playing the PS3 and 360...going back is really painful to the eyes (and sadly...so is the Wii).
Aberu...most of those games are already on the 360, and they ranked better on the 360 in many cases. The PS3 section is a joke in regular retail and gamestores. I've been looking for a non-Resistance game for a while...but almost everything interesting is already on the 360.
The next game I'm looking forward to is Ninja Gaiden...and I've already played through it twice on the original Xbox. Sony needs MGS4 (for those who like it) and Final Fantasy, stat. The current PS3 exclusives don't really mean anything.
Bangbang... @ May 8th 2007 11:59AM
"Then again, MSFT is having difficulties to reach 65nm process with its processor and GPU, while sony has already removed the EE and is probably installing 65nm cells on the newest PS3s."
Is that why they just announced that the 65nm CPU and GPU will be in the xbox 360s that ship this fall?
BURRRN!!!! lol
blowstiq @ May 8th 2007 12:13PM
Digitimes article has already been thoroughly discredited:
from "systems@digitimes.com" 9:34 pm (10 hours ago)
to ******@gmail.com
date May 7, 2007 9:34 PM
subject Re: Production cost of PS3 could be cut by US$100
mailed-by digitimes.com
Dear *******,
Thanks for pointing this out. This was an inadvertent error on our part and the article has been corrected accordingly.
Thank you for your continued support of DIGITIMES.
You wrote:
This is bogus. $0 for extra components for the Elite? So where's the cost for the included headset, HDMI cable, controller, etc? $6.10 for assembly - who's kidding who?
--------------------------------------------
And they still have NOT corrected the information regarding "Other components". Gee, I wonder why not, when they say they have. And I wonder why the title of the table still says "PS3 and Xbox 360 Elite", but the column heading says "Xbox 360 (20GB hard drive version)".
Tak @ May 8th 2007 1:52PM
Seriously, what's the point in making a product that you make a loss on? To me it just looks like they're showing off rather than being concerned with actual business.
Time @ May 8th 2007 4:05PM
oh look, the ps3 needs a price cut?...well whoopie fucking doo....thank you for pointing out the most obvious thing since"the sky is blue"....
Let it go, for the love of God, just let it go......Every time we get some "expert" saying the ps3 needs a price cuts does nothing more then state the obvious and get all the fanbots panties in a twist.."when the ps3 cost 99 cents and have a million AAA titles then I will buy one because I am so L33T#$%^....oh just shut the fuck up, don't you people have Gears or Zelda or whatever the hell you people have to play? since your system have all the best games?....shouldn't the Internet be trolling with the ps3 fanboys since they are the ones with no games to play?...
The way I see it, if you are one of those people who are waiting for the ps3 to cut it's price by a 100 dollars or more then you are a potential customer and have every right to complain or whatever
but if you are one of those xbots, or nintendorks who would never buy a ps3, because the 360 and the wii is all your gaming needs...then don't you think it's a waste of time trolling ps3 based news?...what purpose do it serve to post about a console(ps3) that you think is a huge piece of shit and will fail soon?...I think the wii is the biggest joke since "who wants to marry a millionaire" and Nintendo is laughing their asses to the bank on 10 year old technology....BUT do I spend even a fraction of my time . talking and trollling wii based news and websites?..fuck no..why?...well could it be that I have no interest in it and therefore it would be a waste of time
but for all the fucknuts who claim they have no "interest" in the ps3 spend more time on it then the acutal ps3 owners
Again, shit the hell up...this whole "Ps3 Suxxross%^&&" thing is kinda old already
Joe @ May 17th 2007 10:50PM
a diode is part of what the laser is made of. It doesnt read, focus the laser or anything else to the laser than just control the output of the electric current in cd drives. Without diodes in a cd drive the laser couldnt acurally read the cd and have alot of skips, that is why one reason some cd drives go out and dont work because the diode basiclly burns out.