Rumor: PS3 now 70 percent cheaper to manufacture

Price cut is coming just in-time for the holiday season. Count on it. The console makers don't really profit off the hardware (unless they happen to be named Nintendo), it's all about software. More consoles in more people's homes = more potential software purchasers. Cheaper console = more people's income range. It'll happen, but Sony probably wants to make sure the Slim version can be well stocked before it launches.

So what's all this bullshit about Sony not being able to cut the PS3 and keep it profitable? If this is to be believed then what the hell is going on? Do they want the PS3 to fall behind even farther?

All I know if that this is somewhat true and although I don't know the official officials on this, Sony has been "trimming the fat" in terms of PS3 production for a while now and this is why the PS3 Slim is coming and most likely at a $299 price point. As a PS3 owner who bought the original 60GB when the price was dropped to $599 (paid just over $500 after trade-ins), I am happy that the PS3 will, in most likely hood, finally catch up to the 360 in units sold. I just want an even great push of great PS3 games and further saturation will motivate companies even mores so.

Now, if I could just get my PS3 back from Sony, for the second time in less than a year, before Madden 10 comes out, I'll be a even happier camper. Ha....

Good for them. Now, as good business sense, stay profitable from here on out.

Now let them use some of that money to make all these other services even more awesome. (remember, sony provides the psn, free online play, Home, an internet browser, and Life with Playstation, all of which aren't on the competition, and need maintenance and improvement - which isn't free).

How do you people define "win" anyways? The most consoles sold? The most goodwill acquired? Both of these should never be taken at the cost of sustainability. ever. I want Sony to make a ps4, and I don't want it to go the way of the wii (too may peripherals, not enough power, crappy connectivity, incapable of being a media center), and it would be bad to go the way of the xbox (nearly always loosing money, sub-par products, as "closed" as possible, mediocre at best goodwill).

The words of the Sony CEO make this a rumour? What?

You seem to forget about retailer's margin...
When retailers sell at $400, Sony doesn't get $400. If you consider that retailers usually charge 100% markup (when it' s not more), Sony gets only $200 out of the original $400.

We' re back to the $40 loss that was talked about a few months ago... And I don't even take into acccount shipping costs.

That 70% cost reduction is nothing new. Still the same old rumour.

Ive never really understood why people complain about the ps3 price compared to the xbox 360 price..

in comparison to what you to get in each console , i think you would spend a little more on your xbox360 to get the same amount from your ps3... if you are to compare both systems and what you get (speaking in terms of people who dont know any better and buy "microsoft/sony products" like the average parent does)

PS3 - 399.99 , to get the same things out of your xbox from day 1 that you would with your 399.99 ps3 out of the box.
(i will not compare the xbox arcade, i would never buy a system with no hard drive, and in the end you will spend the money on the hard drive anyways)

Xbox 360 Pro. 299.99
xbox live (12 month) 49.99
Charger (microsoft) 19.99
Wireless Adapter (microsoft) 99.99

one thing the xbox does have is the headset , but for the ps3 you can get any cheap bluetooth headset.

I've had mine since January '07 and have been enjoying it since. Watching Blu-rays, upgraded the hard drive to 250GB for $80, and free online play. Can't beat that.

That's what a lot of people are saying to justify the high price tag in store, but I've never seen a retailer that did not want to make a profit on every item he sells, except maybe for clearance items.

As long as I can't see an invoice/wholesale price that proves it, I can't believe it. Retailers have to make more than 1% to be able to accomodate internal costs like shipping between warehouses, or building leases, etc...

If that's really true, they need to bring hardware PS2 backwards compatibility back, and stop manufacturing the PS2.

It would save Sony alot of money, and it will give Sony an excuse to keep the PS3's price, as is.

"PS3 is already a great deal in gaming when you consider everything it does and comes with for $399."

Umm, no.

What about the person who doesn't want a console with "everything"? The upgraders from PS2s? The people who don't want Blu-ray? The mums and dads who just want to buy a cheap console for junior?

They're out of luck, that's what. They won't be buying a PS3 because it's not within their price range.

Sony need to provide options, not one upper-end device. Their sales figures clearly show that their strategy is not working. Defending their pricing is ridiculous given just how poorly they're going.

To those people who always bring up wireless in to the sums, as if it were a deal breaker, how come you never mention the millions of PS2s sold with WIRED controllers?

It's ok for the PS2 to be wired, but not a budget PS3 machine? How does that work exactly?

why not the LS2LS7? - Wow, u know my history but the optical went first, last Sept. and then the day that I had been looking so forward to which was the day the Gamestop Madden 10 pre-order codes went live, my power supply went caput. At least I got a few games in, and even turned the thing off for over an hour before getting in a fourth game. Don't get me started about the return box debacle which shoulda got to my house on Sat. - NAH! Got it yesterday, even though it was second day air. PS3 shutdown last Thurs. Eh...

Oh, OF COURSE, they wouldn't goodwill this repair since it was less than a year since my optical went. They say cuz they goodwilled that one, I couldn't get this one but the funny thing is that I NEVER even asked for the first one. Dude just said that since I was only a month to the day past my warranty, they would just repair it for free. Plus I think I got back a refurb...yet after talking to a manager the other day, she claims it was not. Either way, I am screwed out of $160 and possibly more down the line.

This could mean that all that PS3 Slim stuff was bullsh*t and they will just keep making the "normal" fat bastard while profiting even after a price drop.

Or maybe this rumor is a bit off and it costs $240 to make the Slim?

Hopefully they didn't cheap out on thier cr@p optical drive. first one died in a day ... second one died after 6 uses. third one is ok so far... but I barely use it anyways. now it just collects dust.pos :)

I broke down and bought a PS3 a few months ago. I've had a 360 since launch. After I burned through Uncharted and Killzone 2 I haven't had much reason to turn it on except to watch Blu Rays. Which itself if the main reason I bought it. Had the PS3 also not been a BD player, I would of never even considered it.

BTW for fan boys saying Killzone 2 is PS3's Gears, I'm sorry. I loved Killzone 2 but it's art direction, story and supporting characters are not even on the same level. Forget about the constant stuttering framerate that plagued the entire single player campaign.

Back to the topic. I just don't think the value it there at it's current price point - a point made more relevant by current stand alone BD player prices now. Q4 of this year and Q1 of next will shift the value factor into Sony's favor though.

PSN seems archaic compared to XBL. I still can't believe there is no way to sort movies you want to rent. I was browsing the catalogue for the first time and couldn't believe I had to scroll through over 700 movies just to get to the Xs or Zx. Can't sort alphabetical, by release date, nothing. It's kinda confusing when you can sort through games by letter yet that feature isn't there for movies.

Installs seem to make little to no difference in loading or lag from what I have experienced and playing online is worse than XBL's launch months.

The PS3 needs a price cut to be competitive, especially when the Xbox does everything just as good or better with the exception of online browsing and playing BDs.