PlayStation 3's cost to Sony so far: $3.32 billion

Guys these isnt a rush race,its a long marathon! You will all see that before the end of these gen,Sony will get out of the loss and generate atleast some profit.

IT PRINTS MON...

...wait, no it doesn't.



On topic:

This is interesting not for the present time, but for the future of console gaming. If, God forbid, Sony were to ever bow out of the race who would take their place and what would they bring to the table?

Will Sony join forces with anyone? If so will the new combi-company-console try to take us in any new directions?

What lessons will present and future companies learn from this?


My take on this possible future:

Sony will run into financial difficulties (n.b. I am by no means an expert in business. Do not flame for an OPINION). They will lean on old business partners (Toyota, NEC, Ericsson, Konica etc) to help provide technology for the PS4 which will arrive in 2011.

The PS4 will have all the latest technology but not be bleeding edge or introducing any new formats. There will be a respectable attempt at new controller interfaces.

Microsoft will also pull back on the technology reins but make sure they are ahead of Sony in the horsepower race, for bragging rights if nothing else.

Nintendo, still helmed by Iwata will miss the online boat, again, but still manage to lure children like some sort of super saiyan pied piper.

I'm starting to get the feeling that this influx of "casual games" is going to be a problem down the road. Companies can't keep devoting tens of millions of dollars into a console game just to have it brushed aside by crappy reviews. It's too much of a gamble and it is only getting worse. I'm getting the feeling that the Wii is fortelling the future of gaming. Low powered consoles chock full of Pogo and Pac Man type games would blow. I hope my gut feeling is wrong.

I'd probably get more use outta the Joystack than my PS3. ZING!

If I buy more PS3s, Sony will make less money?!
If I don't buy PS3s, Sony won't make money?!

Me brain hurts....

Sony: $3.3 Billion on PS3
Microsoft: $4 Billion on Xbox, $? on Xbox360, $1.1 Billion on RROD warranty repairs
Nintendo: ?

What a waste of money how is it every going to make that back?!?!

Sony as a whole has been profitable and there were a string of years where the computer entertainment division contributed 60% to the net income. The PS2 and PSP are profitable. I don't think Sony had a choice but to go the direction it went with the PS3 ... bluray, hard drive, cell, rsx. It didn't have to do Cell and its still early to tell whether cell will pay off not only for the PS3 but for other CE applications which seem slow to adopt the processor. Bluray was a decent bet since it won the format war, but a huge price was paid in terms of added cost and delays. Developing sereral new IP's for the new generation is laudable and forward looking and I think will pay off in the long run as well but in the short term is not what was needed to build the install base.

Nintendo took a different bet and what seems to be the winning bet for the future : low cost and ease of development, user interface advancements, market broadening, low cost low power components, and fast release of established franchises.

Using cutting edge early adopter expensive technology for what will be a mass market consumer device in a somewhat price sensitive competitive market was a risky gamble indeed. The jury is still out ... Hardware Cost and Price reduction should be top priority, followed by a whole host of tasks Sony needs to accomplish to save this generation and the next.

It's been worth it. Cannibalizing a brand has led to the relative success of Blu-Ray and the Cell being a viable platform.

Despite what many of you think, PS3's losses will not be subsidized by gains in their other electronics divisions, at least not for now. HDTV sales are down by a great margin as well as other electronic appliances, and it's thought to largely be because of the high gas prices and tanking economy.

Unfortunately, the PS3 is going to need another price drop if they want to keep moving units after MGS4 hype machine dies down a bit.

But it's also true that Sony is a VERY BIG COMPANY. And the larger the company is, the longer it takes for it to go out of business. That's just simply a rule of thumb in business. If the PS3 were to fail, it would hurt Sony, but it would not destroy them. They will still come back with another console, but it will definitely be engineered with a much different (ie cheaper) approach.

And if the 360 takes third place, it will not ruin Microsoft either. That's an even bigger company than Sony with their fingers in many more money making areas than Sony has. Microsoft should be happy that they've stolen away a lot of Sony's console market share, even if/when the PS3 does outsell the 360, and I guarantee you that they will come back strong with another Xbox.

If you think about it, all three companies are in good shape this gen. The 360, even with it's initial hardware failures, has sold very well. The PS3 has come back from a really bad launch year and will eventually catch up in sales (maybe even at a profit at some point), and the Wii is just simply the king of all of them for now. However, IMHO, the only one of those three companies that truly needs to worry is Sony. They still haven't gotten a good sales rhythm going, they're still not selling well in Japan compared to past systems(yes, PS3 fanboys, I realize the 360 doesn't sell well either in Japan), and they seem to be, according to this story, still bleeding out money because of the PS3. We'll just have to see how it all pans out.

I guess I'm not helping. Just bought a PS3/MGS4 bundle and don't plan on buying any PS3 games or BR movies...just renting.

Selling the console at a loss is profitable only if the attach rate for games and accessories is high (like the 360). MS has made a ton of cash off of me because of all of the 360 games I've bought. Sony won't. I'll still enjoy the PS3, but at Sony's expense.

Ehhh when both the PS3 and the XBOX360 hit the 200 dollar price point (hard drive included) then I will finally move into the next generation. I know there are a lot of people like me out there, that think these things are still ridiculously expensive... even if they do have MGS4. I expect that the the PS3 will not recoup it's loses until it is "Slimlined" and and not much more expensive than a toaster.

This comment section is going to be interesting...

*grabs popcorn*

You also got to remember that 500% isn't much when you consider that sells havn't been so hot since the console's release. Now, if you were telling me that they had a 500% increase from last year and last year saw the release of MGS4, FF239384, and Resistance 2, that would be impressing.

90% of all statistics can be made to say anything 50% of the time. That, and the fact that the new commercials for the PS3 have only 3 games in them *A demo, unreleased title, and a current hit* should be show that Sony STILL doesn't have a "must have" hit.

P.S. Yes, I know it is FF13. I just hate the series now. I mean really... When I first played FF6, I had high hopes for the future of the series. 15 year later and they rode it HARD into the ground.

WTF can't I comment?!

90% of all statistics can be made to say anything 50% of the time...

wow thats borderline close to anchormans "60% of the time it works everytime"

Oh, for-! The PS3 is awesome. Ok? All those people who continually dis the system do so only -only!- because they weren't gutsy enough to shove out the cash for the system. Yeah, Sony is losing cash, but thats because people are still refusing to buy it at the reduced price because they're too damn proud to admit they want it. The reason the ps3 hasn't had a major hit yet? People haven't bought the system to play the major hit. Once people finally get over their grudge against Sony for the drop price, they'll buy the system, buy the games, and Sony will be sitting on their huge throne of cash - laughing. I'll be laughing with them.