Sony losing money on every PS3 Slim sold

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Sony losing money on every PS3 Slim sold

Sony's Kaz Hirai has said that the company will make a loss on every slim PlayStation 3 console it sells.

The unit was officially revealed last week, and is due for release in the first week of September priced USD 299 / EUR 299 / GBP 249.

"If you're just talking about the hardware alone, the quick answer is yes," Hirai told The Times Online, when asked if Sony will lose money on the slim as it has on the original PlayStation 3.

"That makes good headlines, but I don't actually know that that's the true nature of the business that we're all in, whether it's PlayStation, Xbox or the Wii. I think the better indicator is to look at the business as a whole platform, to ask: are you profitable in terms of the hardware, software and peripherals. And the answer to that question is yes on a gross profit level since the last fiscal year," he said.

Hirai also said that while Nintendo has recently been praised as a company that has managed to bring videogaming to a mainstream audience, Sony originally broke down that barrier with the PlayStation 2.

"The most successful console is still the PS2 and it's still going strong. I think that's the console that really broke the barrier from videogames being just for videogamers into more of a mass market on a global basis.

"Nintendo's obviously done a great job in following that mass acceptance," he offered.

Sony still losing money of ps3 slim hardware

The Times Online had a sit-down with Sony Computer Entertainment boss, Kaz Hirai, after the big Gamescom show last week in Cologne. You remember, the event that saw the official launch of the PS3 Slim. The Q&A is an interesting read in whole, but the answer that stands out comes in response to a question about whether the lower-priced $299 PS3 Slim will be sold at a loss relative to its cost to manufacture. "Yes," was the quick answer from Kaz. That's a surprise for two reasons. First, the PS3 Slim benefits from more efficient 45-nm manufacturing processes used on its smaller, less power-hungry Cell processor. Also, just last month Sony's CFO told investors that manufacturing costs of the PS3 had dropped by "about 70%, roughly speaking" -- that comes to about $240 based on original manufacturing estimates of $800 when the PS3 launched back in 2006. Regardless, a console being sold as a loss-leader is nothing new in the gaming industry and, as Kaz points out, will almost certainly be offset by looking at the PS3 as a platform that includes the hardware, software, peripherals, and services.