AfterDawn: Tech news

PlayStation 3 production costs drop substantially

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 15 Jan 2008 9:29 User comments (26)

PlayStation 3 production costs drop substantially When the Sony PlayStation 3 launched in November 2006, many criticized its expensive price and its inclusion of an internal Blu-ray drive.
It was not only consumers that felt the squeeze however. The industry group iSuppli estimated last year that the initial cost to manufacture the 60GB unit was $840.35 USD, way higher than even Sony was charging for the console meaning the company was losing hundreds of dollars per console.

A year later however, Sony has managed to close the gap a substantial amount although they are still losing money. BusinessWeek reported this week that the PS3 now costs around $400 USD to manufacture and that Sony will only lose $1.4 billion USD in its gaming division for 2007 compared to $2.1 billion USD for 2006.



Production cost drops have been attributed to a few new advances in technology as well as higher supply. Firstly, the Cell Broadband Engine chip was shrunk to 65nm. The blue-violet laser diodes used for the Blu-ray drive have also seen a huge increase in yield and supply. Sony also removed the backwards compatibility engine for PS2 titles from its 40GB unit, dropping production costs even further.

Sony Entertainment boss Kazuo Hirai explained at CES that the gaming division hopes to be profitable by the next fiscal year.

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26 user comments

115.1.2008 22:40

i have to say i will buy ps3 when the price is under 250 euro, because it a very nice concel. backwards compatibility is not important, because i have ps2. blu ray is shit, so i understann why many of playstation fan don't buy it. One thing will the ps3 get free region code cd like ps2?

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 15 Jan 2008 @ 10:44

215.1.2008 23:20
vinny13
Inactive

Great :)

I bet we'll be seeing price cuts in time for next Christmas.

316.1.2008 03:35

@Mestari

Blu ray is actually not sh!t, and is currently ahead in the format war.
And playstation fans are the majority of the buyers for blu ray.

@Topic

I sure do hope they can lower the price a little bit more to bring more potential buyers.

416.1.2008 04:41
nobrainer
Inactive

Sony are using Foxconn to manufacture their PS3's now which is why they have cut costs.

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.p...-40GB-Ps3.phtml

Originally posted by link:
19 September 2007 19:52 GMT - It looks as if those reports suggesting a new, entry-level 40GB PlayStation 3 might just be true.

An electronic manufacturing news source has revealed that Sony has turned to Taiwanese manufacturer FoxConn to make the rumoured lower-specced version.
foxconn was found by the Mail on Sunday to be using sweatshop type slave labour in their factories, they were employing mainly woman from far away villages so they had no choice but to stay in the large squalid dormitories forced to work 15+ hours a day, were only being paid $50 per month and half of that went to foxconn for their bed and board.

The problem is that these conditions are considered legal in the Asian country of manufacture but do you really want to exploit ppl to get cheaper goods, i suppose they are nealy black and you can convince yourselves this is just and good?

foxconn do make goods for many other companies but sony went into this deal to make the 40gig ps3 when foxconn had been exposed for disgusting treatment of human beings but did they care!

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=14915

Originally posted by link:
Apple's iPods are made by mainly female workers who earn as little as £27 per month, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday yesterday.

The report, 'iPod City', isn't available online. It offers photographs taken from inside the factories that make Apple music players, situated in China and owned by Foxconn.

The Mail visited some of these factories and spoke with staff there. It reports that Foxconn's Longhua plant houses 200,000 workers, remarking: "This iPod City has a population bigger than Newcastle's."

The report claims Longhua's workers live in dormitories that house 100 people, and that visitors from the outside world are not permitted. Workers toil for 15-hours a day to make the iconic music player, the report claims. They earn £27 per month. The report reveals that the iPod nano is made in a five-storey factory (E3) that is secured by police officers.

Another factory in Suzhou, Shanghai, makes iPod shuffles. The workers are housed outside the plant, and earn £54 per month - but they must pay for their accommodation and food, "which takes up half their salaries", the report observes.
Before all the complete morons state that this company has given vital jobs to the area, and the ppl earn more money they could else where, grow up and read some feckin globalist economics literature and realise that capitalism is destroying their way of lives helped by the WTO and central banks so westerners can enjoy goods for cheaper prices!

videos for idiots, that can't read more than 10 lines of text. TRY READING HISTORY BOOKS PPL: http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/interviews/dmt-capitalism.html

Quote:
The poor complain as they always have,
but that’s unimportant chatter.
Our system brings rewards to all,
at least to all that matter.
Noam Chomsky: Is Capitalism Making Life Better? Video
What Is Globalization? - Noam Chomsky Video
George Carlin on consumer capitalism Video
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 16 Jan 2008 @ 5:08

516.1.2008 12:35

Quote:
Sony are using Foxconn to manufacture their PS3's now which is why they have cut costs.

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.p...-40GB-Ps3.phtml

Originally posted by link:
19 September 2007 19:52 GMT - It looks as if those reports suggesting a new, entry-level 40GB PlayStation 3 might just be true.

An electronic manufacturing news source has revealed that Sony has turned to Taiwanese manufacturer FoxConn to make the rumoured lower-specced version.
foxconn was found by the Mail on Sunday to be using sweatshop type slave labour in their factories, they were employing mainly woman from far away villages so they had no choice but to stay in the large squalid dormitories forced to work 15+ hours a day, were only being paid $50 per month and half of that went to foxconn for their bed and board.

The problem is that these conditions are considered legal in the Asian country of manufacture but do you really want to exploit ppl to get cheaper goods, i suppose they are nealy black and you can convince yourselves this is just and good?

foxconn do make goods for many other companies but sony went into this deal to make the 40gig ps3 when foxconn had been exposed for disgusting treatment of human beings but did they care!

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=14915

Originally posted by link:
Apple's iPods are made by mainly female workers who earn as little as £27 per month, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday yesterday.

The report, 'iPod City', isn't available online. It offers photographs taken from inside the factories that make Apple music players, situated in China and owned by Foxconn.

The Mail visited some of these factories and spoke with staff there. It reports that Foxconn's Longhua plant houses 200,000 workers, remarking: "This iPod City has a population bigger than Newcastle's."

The report claims Longhua's workers live in dormitories that house 100 people, and that visitors from the outside world are not permitted. Workers toil for 15-hours a day to make the iconic music player, the report claims. They earn £27 per month. The report reveals that the iPod nano is made in a five-storey factory (E3) that is secured by police officers.

Another factory in Suzhou, Shanghai, makes iPod shuffles. The workers are housed outside the plant, and earn £54 per month - but they must pay for their accommodation and food, "which takes up half their salaries", the report observes.
Before all the complete morons state that this company has given vital jobs to the area, and the ppl earn more money they could else where, grow up and read some feckin globalist economics literature and realise that capitalism is destroying their way of lives helped by the WTO and central banks so westerners can enjoy goods for cheaper prices!

videos for idiots, that can't read more than 10 lines of text. TRY READING HISTORY BOOKS PPL: http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/interviews/dmt-capitalism.html

Quote:
The poor complain as they always have,
but that’s unimportant chatter.
Our system brings rewards to all,
at least to all that matter.
Noam Chomsky: Is Capitalism Making Life Better? Video
What Is Globalization? - Noam Chomsky Video
George Carlin on consumer capitalism Video

Sometimes i think him and hugh are the same person.


I think the current price for the 40gb model could be dropped some due to the lack of specs but its still price at a fair range as well as the 80GB version. They are still on par with the 360's models and offering the Blu-player playback ability on top.

616.1.2008 13:17

Is it true that people are using PS3 as a computer running linux?

716.1.2008 14:57
OhCrap
Inactive

Quoted from Wikipedia.

Quote:
Among other things, Foxconn produces the Mac mini, the iPod and the iPhone for Apple Computer; Intel-branded motherboards for Intel Corp.; various orders for American computer retailers Dell, Inc. and Hewlett Packard; the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 for Sony; the Wii for Nintendo;the Xbox 360 for Microsoft, cell phones for Motorola, and Amazon Kindle
Quote:
In June 2006, allegations of Foxconn operating abusive employment practices came to light as reported by Mail that were later denied by Foxconn.[6][7] Apple launched an investigation into such claims.[8] The result was that the claims of mistreatment of employees were judged by the Apple inspection team to be largely unfounded.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 16 Jan 2008 @ 3:35

816.1.2008 16:19

great now that the PS3 is around 400 put the Gdamn BWC hardware in it and a 4X BD drive in it and I will but it for 400.....



well...ok 500......

916.1.2008 17:17

Yep it just keeps getting better... a little lower in price and I got me a console and a blue ray player... cool... and blue ray will win this one folks..

1016.1.2008 20:24
hughjars
Inactive

nobrainer glad you did that.

It's an aspect of the CE industry (amongst others) that gets talked about far too rarely.

Abusive & repressive employment practices (anywhere) should be brought before the public & it ought to mean something serious & significant to people who might consider themselves at all civilised;
it ought to significantly influence our buying habits.

(and Apple investigated themselves and found largely - hmmm there's a suspicious term if ever there was - they had done no wrong.

Kind of like the chances of anyone who investigates themselves finding anything seriously wrong, huh?)

1116.1.2008 21:25
vinny13
Inactive

Originally posted by hughjars:
nobrainer glad you did that.

It's an aspect of the CE industry (amongst others) that gets talked about far too rarely.

Abusive & repressive employment practices (anywhere) should be brought before the public & it ought to mean something serious & significant to people who might consider themselves at all civilised;
it ought to significantly influence our buying habits.

(and Apple investigated themselves and found largely - hmmm there's a suspicious term if ever there was - they had done no wrong.

Kind of like the chances of anyone who investigates themselves finding anything seriously wrong, huh?)
Ya way to make good news into bad news :/

1216.1.2008 23:29

Quote:
Ya way to make good news into bad news :/
The ps3 production cost dropping is the end result, but what could be the catalyst??? I want to see ps3 price drops as much the next person but if sony has to use borderline slave labor I'll pass.

This isn't turning good news into bad news, its explaining the story from beginning to end. People may not want to know how something is made, that’s fine but complaining that it ruins good news is ridiculous.

1316.1.2008 23:55
vinny13
Inactive

Whatever.

Anyways, we won't be seeing any price drops soon because as you can see they're already down 3.5 billion. I'm pretty sure the PS2 covers a lot of this but definitely not 3.5 billion. So I say next September-October at the earliest.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 16 Jan 2008 @ 11:57

1417.1.2008 00:12

Quote:
Quote:
Ya way to make good news into bad news :/
The ps3 production cost dropping is the end result, but what could be the catalyst??? I want to see ps3 price drops as much the next person but if sony has to use borderline slave labor I'll pass.

This isn't turning good news into bad news, its explaining the story from beginning to end. People may not want to know how something is made, that’s fine but complaining that it ruins good news is ridiculous.
I would not say slave labor...but can you say MS is better using crappy plants in china to churn out 360s?

Frankly everyone has less than great employment practices..if you want to stay in business in the world market you almost have to, the 360 is built poorly and so far the PS3 at least has some quality in it...

Still tho if they want 400 or more I want BWC hardware in it and a faster BD drive....

1517.1.2008 07:19

Blu-Ray owning 70% of Home Video Market + Falling PS3 Prices is a formula for soaring PS3 sales..

1617.1.2008 12:41

i hate to come accross as an idiot but if its so bad for these people working in the sweat shops and making only $50 a month, then why dont they get a job elsewhere. or are they also building ps3's at gunpoint and being chained to their beds at night.

whats the average wage in china, for all i know it could be $75 a month.

1717.1.2008 15:59
hughjars
Inactive

Originally posted by vinny13:
way to make good news into bad news
- Yeah it's shocking, isn't it?

Why can't everything just be taken at a superficial level and be nice and lovely and cuddly?.

Why can't we all just ignore the nasty details & the horrid bits and carry on with a clear conscience, huh?

FFS, tune in to reality & wake up.

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
I would not say slave labor.
- You only need to look into this and you can say that in far too many instances that is exactly what this is.

Whether they are not technically 'slaves' is besides the point. Indentured labour can be just as cruel and unacceptable.

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
but can you say MS is better using crappy plants in china to churn out 360s?
- Frankly Zippy I could care less who is doing it.

The 'whatabout them.....' argument is just a mechanism to excuse and ignore what is going on and do nothing about it.

It ought to be unacceptable in each & every instance, no matter who is doing it.

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Frankly everyone has less than great employment practices.
- That's simply not true and effectively just an argument to pretend that 'our' western progress is an aberration which other (mostly) poor, (mostly) non-western & very much less privileged people cannot aspire to, expect or achieve.

I do not accept that.

Whilst there will always be employers who break the law here we do have standards of employment which are not only world-leading but we expect them to be universal here.
In addition to our domestic rules & regs there are certain minimum international legal standards we have every right to demand if they want our business/money.

Why should the good employers suffer the fake competition from the worst employers?

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
.if you want to stay in business in the world market you almost have to
- Naaaa zippy, that's just not true.
In fact when ethics is involved all you have to do is expose what is going on and the public will vote with their feet.

We've seen this time & time again in the sportswear & equipment trade for instance.

tin23uk why not inform yourself on the topic?
$50 a month?!
As if.
Some kids are effectively forced into it & get paid almost nothing except board & a meagre diet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labor
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 17 Jan 2008 @ 4:01

1817.1.2008 16:08

hughjars
so everyone should leave china becuse they have poor labor laws?
you do realize nearly everythign is made in china thus the only way things will change is in time, thats the trouble with contrys with poor labor laws thats where the world makes its cheap stuff and the world will ever go without cheap stuff thus its realistic to believe some of the things I have stated, yes the world can do better but we do not live in a perfect world.

1917.1.2008 16:24
vinny13
Inactive

Originally posted by hughjars:


- Yeah it's shocking, isn't it?

Why can't everything just be taken at a superficial level and be nice and lovely and cuddly?.

Why can't we all just ignore the nasty details & the horrid bits and carry on with a clear conscience, huh?

FFS, tune in to reality & wake up.


I bet if this was a 360 article you would say the same thing :P

2017.1.2008 17:53
hughjars
Inactive

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
hughjars
so everyone should leave china becuse they have poor labor laws?
- It's quid pro quo Zippy.

If they want to be allowed into our markets to trade then they have to meet certain minimum standards.

That's perfectly normal and has happened all over the world.

I'm not against some form of incentivising or allowing for a degree of gradual change (it would be unreasonable to expect instant changes) but nevertheless some practices are wholly unacceptable.

Originally posted by vinny13:
I bet if this was a 360 article you would say the same thing
- What part of
"The 'whatabout them.....' argument is just a mechanism to excuse and ignore what is going on and do nothing about it.

It ought to be unacceptable in each & every instance, no matter who is doing it"

is it you're having so much trouble comprehending Vinny, huh?

2117.1.2008 18:01

hughjars
the trouble is they side step it and slow worker advancement, the best you can hope for is that they pay well enough compared to other jobs there.

it could be better it could be worse thus is life, consumers only care alil about such things thus why the corporations only care alil....

2217.1.2008 19:09
vinny13
Inactive

Originally posted by hughjars:

- What part of
"The 'whatabout them.....' argument is just a mechanism to excuse and ignore what is going on and do nothing about it.

It ought to be unacceptable in each & every instance, no matter who is doing it"

is it you're having so much trouble comprehending Vinny, huh?
I'm not using it as an excuse, you are very biased when it comes to any type of article that has to do with Blu-Ray. Like it's just HD-DVD period. It's always about the positives and ignoring the negatives. But they're your opinions, and nobody has to listen to them.

Where'd you get that quote from anyways lol

Anyways, that's life in Asia. It's their laws. We definitely do not agree with them but they're not going to change them anytime soon because they have the people that are willing to work in those conditions and that gives them the advantage over developed nations. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the people working there are happy to have their jobs since it's so over-crowded there it's probably hard to find any good jobs unless you're educated well enough. I wouldn't want to work like that, but if that was the best there was then I guess I'd have to live with it right? Until something better comes along anyways...

2317.1.2008 21:41
red2tango
Inactive

Originally posted by Mestari81:
i have to say i will buy ps3 when the price is under 250 euro, because it a very nice concel. backwards compatibility is not important, because i have ps2. blu ray is shit, so i understann why many of playstation fan don't buy it. One thing will the ps3 get free region code cd like ps2?
bluray is the SHIT.games have 50gb and without that u wouldnt have killzone 2 or metal gear solid 4 or final fantasy 13.ps3 games are region free!get it i love it!

2417.1.2008 21:45
red2tango
Inactive

Quote:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
hughjars
so everyone should leave china becuse they have poor labor laws?
- It's quid pro quo Zippy.

If they want to be allowed into our markets to trade then they have to meet certain minimum standards.

That's perfectly normal and has happened all over the world.

I'm not against some form of incentivising or allowing for a degree of gradual change (it would be unreasonable to expect instant changes) but nevertheless some practices are wholly unacceptable.

Originally posted by vinny13:
I bet if this was a 360 article you would say the same thing
- What part of
"The 'whatabout them.....' argument is just a mechanism to excuse and ignore what is going on and do nothing about it.

It ought to be unacceptable in each & every instance, no matter who is doing it"

is it you're having so much trouble comprehending Vinny, huh?
Hughjars please get yourself a blog!

2518.1.2008 02:09

Quote:
Originally posted by Mestari81:
i have to say i will buy ps3 when the price is under 250 euro, because it a very nice concel. backwards compatibility is not important, because i have ps2. blu ray is shit, so i understann why many of playstation fan don't buy it. One thing will the ps3 get free region code cd like ps2?
bluray is the SHIT.games have 50gb and without that u wouldnt have killzone 2 or metal gear solid 4 or final fantasy 13.ps3 games are region free!get it i love it!

and more production cost which translates to more losses on games which feel every dollar lost, HDVD has 51GB and is cheaper to make for.

Games are not region free some are locked to region and some are crossed regioned being locked out of some regions.

Some 360 titles are not regioned either its all up to if the publisher whats to regionize them or not and mostly they do.

2614.2.2008 23:31

Interesting if costs are down price goes down and hopefully the inflation does not hit.

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