Sony Reports PS4 Will Be Cheaper to Deliver to Launch than PS3 - Does This Really Affect Consumers?

Sony has announced that the PS4 was cheaper to make and develop than the PS3, which means it will be cheaper to deliver to launch as well.

But will these savings actually pass to the consumer as well? Not if Sony continues being the Sony it's always been.

[ltachiUchiha]

"But will these savings actually pass to the consumer as well? Not if Sony continues being the Sony it's always been."

Dont know about the writer but for me as a core gamer im still enjoying awesome games this late in the ps3's life cycle with more amazing new ip's on their way with the last of us, beyond two souls & puppeteer which are all new ip's. IMO I love the direction sony is going & I think they will only be more successful with ps4.

[showtimefolks]

When ps3 launched it was the cheapest bluray player available
It came with built in wifi
All system came with hard drive
Cell was expensive to build
A lot of R&D

So now with PS4

Bluray drives are much much cheaper
Hard drives are cheaper. Ps4 IMO will have at minimum 500GB
No to little money for R&D

So yeh ps4 will be cheaper

I wouldn't be surprised if there are 2 models $399-499 or $399-$449

But remember one thing don't expect many price drops, we are 7th year into ps3 and its still selling for $299 same as xbox360

So expect to pay those launch prices for atleast 2 yars than maybe $50 price cut than another 1.5-2 years before anther

[Baka-akaB]

We dunno that , you can't base it on the ps3 . Just like you mentioned the higher cost of the ps3 , the ps4 model could more easily accomodate future price cuts .

The ps2 had plenty of those .

[nukeitall]

I think the 8GB GDDR5 will be very expensive, especially since they aren't commonly made.

Prices go down as you mass manufacture, and Sony might be able to cut the cost down the line, but up front it is going to be one expensive part.

Financially Sony can't absorb the cost either so I expect the low end model to be at $449. That is assuming Sony doesn't include the Kinect copy.

[Saigon]

@nukeitall

Technically none of the tech that will be in the PS4 is readily available, since you seem to keep pointing out the GDDR5 each time. If you read deeper into the content of the system both AMD and Sony has stated the APU is a custom built device. AMD provided the architect and Sony took the device a tweaked it to their desire. AMD has gone on record stating how they were amazed at What Sony was able to do with the chip set. Now from that, We can see that Sony has some type of deal were they are able to get the materials they need in order to make the product the way they want it. Because they are a hardware manufacturing company at heart they specialize in making products suitable for customers.

I think your remarks to GDDR5 is mute at this point, at least to me.

[Skips]

"I think the 8GB GDDR5 will be very expensive"

LOL

Not nearly as expensive as including Blu Ray back in the day and including an HD back in the day. ESPECIALLY NOT the manufacturing of the Cell. Blu Ray players alone went as high up as $800 to $1000.

Sony really only has one expensive part to put in the entire PS4. Do you actually believe including 8GB will be nearly expensive as all three of the above? XD

I'm pretty damn sure the PS4 won't be NEARLY as expensive to create (and as a result, cost) as Sony has already stated the PS4 will be taking a MUCH smaller loss on every console sold and allowing for them to price competitively.

http://www.polygon.com/2013...
http://www.vg247.com/2013/0...

[Qrphe]

"From its original $249 MSRP, it took 3 years for the price to drop—and then, only by $50."

That's incorrect, the PS2 was launched at $300 in the US and had a pricecut in 2002 to $200.
http://usatoday30.usatoday....

Edit: It had a price cut a year after release in Japan as well
http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

[mirroredsakura]

Thank you for that, I had a hell of a time finding prices for the PS2--I thought I remembered more price drops in between, but I simply couldn't search up any documentation on it anywhere. My Google-fu was not strong this night.

[sherimae2413]

the more the ps4 is cheaper in price.. the more i can afford to buy one.. ^_^

[ltachiUchiha]

Exactly & cheaper will also attract casual gamers aswell. I dont see the negativity in that. =]

[NastyLeftHook0]

im good with that.

D

[Bigpappy]

Cheaper could mean $589 rather than $599

[Lone_Man]

agreed...this is the big concern that by how much the sony is going to low the prices 399 would be cool though..but after looking at the controller i think it would be more than 499

[Y_5150]

I love this joke.
KAZ @E3 2013- "599 US DOLLARS" is a thing in the past, now we bring you the new affordable price tag for the PS4...550 US DOLLARS! Any questions?

[Qrphe]

Except that there was a $499 SKU.

[badz149]

other places were getting the premium 60GB model only.

[supraking951]

well DUH, Bluray drives dont cost so much now. people forget PS3 and bluray launched together. Bluray players alone cost $600 as well.

[grassyknoll]

The Cell Processor was expensive too. Yields were terrible & it was incredibly expensive to develop. It was way beyond it's time really.

[C0MPUT3R]

Actually the cheapest (not PS3) Blu-ray player was $800 most were retailing in the $1000s.

[badz149]

Bluray was NOT launched with the PS3. the earliest BD player was released in 2003 in Japan but there were no real support for it. the big push started early 2006 when HD DVD had the headstart for several months and the PS3 was launched in November 2006 as the cheapest, most complete, internet-enabled player yet.

it was kinda funny because from movies enthusiast point of view, the PS3 was DAMN CHEAP but from gaming point of view it was DAMN EXPENSIVE.

[CEOSteveBallmer]

If the writer means that cheap console=cheap hardware=low quality product, then he is awfully Wrong!!

And its a plus to consumers because Duhh, it will be cheaper to buy. What you expect sony make a cheap hardware and sell it for an expensive price??. And i can say expensive device doesn't always means its the best.

[mirroredsakura]

No, I didn't say that at all. Anyway. I said what Sony said. It was cheaper to make than the PS3. That's all. And it can't be wrong because it's true.

My point was that I don't think savings to them mean direct savings to the consumer too (it'll be priced lower, I suspect, but that's because they've decided they can't get away with pricing at the $5-600 range again). I expect Sony to make a good device and sell it at a high price FOR LONGER.

[babis1974]

How cheap? when it came to Europe the cost was very high. I bought my PS3 670 euros here in Greece. After some years and YLOD i bought my 2nd PS3 for 300 euros.I know it's a lot of money but at the time i had a work and i could afford it. Now i am unemployment so my life has changed. I love gaming but it will be very difficult for me and thousands other people to afford that kind of money. I will buy a PS4 when i have a job and if the price will be 400 euros not 500+. Ihope Sony won't make the same mistakes with price and YLOD.

[StreetsofRage]

The added bluray player was the main reason for it's original high cost on the ps3. The ps4 looks to have just the basic upgrades like ram and processor. I would imagine it would be much cheaper to produce.

[abzdine]

the CELL processor was the most expensive thing at the start of PS3, more than Bluray! But of course CELL+Bluray player increased the price very much.

Without PS3 we would probably be using HD-DVDs by now so it's not a bad thing after all.

As you say, PS4 has basic upgrades, but i'm sure it has some futureproof details that will for sure increase the price little bit, but it's for the long life cycle.

[cee773]

Actually contrary to many beliefs RSX was the most expensive part in ps3 $129, followed by Blu Ray $125, then the Cell $89(Cell was so expensive in the beginning only because of R&D) sony lost $400 mill jsut on the cell alone.

The Rest of the expenses is HDD, Ram, Case enclosures cages etc, power supply etc

and were not counting shipping costs the cut department stores get $15-20 ps3 was very expensive to make in fact the 20gb (all black model)is the most expensive of all which why it was the rarest.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/new...

[Khalids19]

it was you consumers who said the PS3 launch price is high, look now...if we get a half assed console I know who to blame now...

[Retroman]

only thing im worry about is geohotz and hackers breaking in the ps4.. amazing no one has mention that yet.

[hesido]

They can afford to make it even cheaper and I think they will do, they have competition that they didn't think they had while designing and deciding on the specs of the PS3.

[mirroredsakura]

From the looks of their financial statements, I'm not entirely certain this is the case. The press release sourced in the article included a forecast for 2013 that included a sizeable jump in sales, with no corresponding jump in operating income.

To be fair, this excludes expected earnings from PS4 sales in 2013, but on the whole, this is what has happened to Sony: they have been losing money for five years straight. 2011 saw a 456-billion yen loss(~$5.6 billion USD). 2012 is the first year they are running a profit since 2008.

So no, I don't they can afford to make it cheaper. The only thing that could make a faster drop in price I suspect, is a replay of what happened with the PS2--i.e. a total success where it's selling power was so great and competition was getting so fierce, that it starts a price war to try and cut Microsoft off at the knees while it was still top dog. But Xbox market power is a lot stronger now than it was then, this will be an even riskier strategy. Either way, it would still be a matter of years of waffling over the decisions, not months.

[hesido]

You may be correct. Depending on Microsoft's offering, they may try to adjust pricing to maximize profit or at least minimize any loss, price it as high as they can get away with, riding on the PS4's initial demand, and do an early price drop afterwards.

[extermin8or]

Don't know what his complaint is real- I mean he shows Nintendo has a similar strategy and Microsoft only brought Xbox prices down whenever their sales started to be threatened by the ps3/a Sony announcement- he hasn't factored in the effect of competition from Microsoft and if something selling like there's no tomorrow at one price- it's simply good business sense not to drop the price if you don't need to... I'd love companies to sell me stuff cheaper than they can get away with, but it's pretty unreasonable to complain about that if there isn't an alternative on the market that matches it almost perfectly vastly cheaper-which Microsoft could do with the next xbox, which would mean I'd expect a price drop from sony. If you want to talk stupid prices-go look at any apple tech, then bet you can find it for 3/4 to half the price-equivalent or better specs else where, especially if you look at their mac books vs laptops....

[supremacy]

I know what you mean and I agree, I was sitting here thinking the samething when I read the opinion piece.

That whole "because Sony is Sony" or "because they are Sony" is ill advised and it comes across as stupid. Why? Simply because all 3 platform holders are out to make a profit and hold on to said profit for as long as they possibly can.

Nintendo for example sells cheaper hardware at a premium when you consider whats already out there and whats coming 6 months from now.

If it were up to MS they wouldnt drop the price of their hardware, most of what they have done from dropping the support of the personal xbox in favor of the 360, to back to back price drops is usually reaction to what the competition is doing.

No, company wants to shrink their profit margins to please their consumers, but they all do it eventually because demand, demands it.

Apple in my opinion is the worse of them all, I could only imagine how they would sell a gaming console if they started making one. So to say because b company is b company is pretty lame, Sony is an electronics company at the core and so it is fitting they try a make a profit on their hardware.

[brave27heart]

£300 and £400 sku's and I'll be happy. Make it £250 and £350 and Sony are going to fly out of the gate.

[4lc4pon3]

i got 1000 saved just for my PS4 whatever the cost its mine. Could care less. I spent more then 1k on one video card for my gaming PC's

Give me my damn PS4 sony.

[brew]

The 20 gig PS3 at launch was $499. This article was a mess from the get go. You battled.

[DigitalRaptor]

Neither the CELL architecture or Blu-ray are premiums for Sony with the PS4, and it's using parts that means it's significantly cheaper to manufacture. It is also set to launch with multiple SKUs so the consumer can choose which they want to get.

Even if the hardware doesn't pass on savings to the consumer, you can bet that its services will. PS+ is the best value a console gamer can get.

[bumnut]

"Does This Really Affect Consumers?"

Yes, it ensures Sony stay in business and release PS5 in the future.

No business can absorb losses for ever.