Why Does The PS3 Need To Be Slim Anyway?

ZoKnowsGaming writes "The answer is that it doesn't. By now you have heard the rumors that at some point Sony is going to announce a PS3 slim, you might have even seen some of the alleged pictures of the now infamous PS3 Slim box. So far none of that stuff has been substantiated and Sony is denying it profusely so that says something (yes, we know about the orders to the manufacturer of the original PS3). People from all over the map have commented on this but the one thing that we really haven't seen is anyone ask the question that we are about to ask and that is "Why Does The PS3 Need To Be Slim?"

[shocky16]

Sony needs to cut the price, a new slim PS3 won't increase sales apart from Japan.

[Blaze929]

Who says a new slim PS3 will even bring a price drop anyway. That's where alot of people are probably getting confused thinking a slim ps3 would make it cheaper. For sony, yes. For the consumer, no, not until Sony gains alot of money back.

[RememberThe357]

is that with the Slim Sony would have been working on a cheaper to manufacture PS3 that would allow them to lower the price.

Blaze, Sony isn't in a position to dictate the price like that. They aren't moving enough units monthly to maintain this high price point. They probably want to lower the price more then consumers want to see it drop.

[Jaces]

Cause the original is fraking heavy!

[SnuggleBandit]

@shocky...well i'll probably buy one even if there is no drop so there's one sale right there and i don't believe this is japan

[Polluted]

@Jace: Yup. 11lbs, I believe, which would make it even heavier than the original Xbox. Hardly portable. The actual size isn't too bad, though. It looks roughly the same size as my 360.

[Bnet343]

because it's ... big?

[Genesis5]

Gee! Let me think. Less material used and smaller components. Might just lower production cost. It can't do anything but.

[cherrypie]

You're 100% correct.

Slim isnt the problem. They need a price cut. A big one. And they need it very fast.

[Traveler]

It doesn't need to be slim, I think it is an elegant looking machine the way it is now. However, if redesigning it and making it smaller can save on production costs it would be a beneficial thing to do. I am sure it will be done at some point, just as we saw happen with the PS1 and PS2.

[Raz]

T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U!!!!

Finally, someone with sense.

[GarandShooter]

'In business, the best model is to serve the most people for less, its about volume and what they lose on price per unit if they triple unit sales it should balance out.'

This makes sense? If they cut the price and lose more per console, how does selling more consoles NOT mean losing more money? How does that balance out?

I know the argument is going to be software sales, but that is not stated. Also, to know with any level of certainty, we need to know what Sony loses per console vs. what they make per unit of software sold, then determine the number of software units per console that need to be sold to offset losses from hardware sales. Then we look at average purchases per console owner and the time frame they occur in, then we can see if this is truly a viable solution.

[mastiffchild]

While some have rightly pointed out that slim models of existing hardware aren't usually cheaper off the bat this is a very different situation. I have said for some time that the only real point in a slim PS3 would be if it meant Sony could retail for cheaper in the relatively short term.

An aesthetic redesign SHOULD be the smallest concern for Sony with PS3 and making it appear a cheaper prospect should be the biggest hence if the slim won't be cheaper I see no reason to waste the R&D to produce one right now. If it does appear I'd be surprised if it isn't cheaper because of all this-why in the world would Sony want to make a more expensive PS3 in this climate? Unless they're mental I don't think they would.

[Harry_Manback]

I'll use it as my primary ps3 & I'll more or less put my precious 60gb in storage to preserve it.

[jack_burt0n]

the japanese like things to be compact, so much so they will buy things twice, a smaller manufacturing process for chips means less cooling wont need a 12cm fan thus smaller, less materials, less weight shipping, all means cheaper and smaller.

what do i win1?!?/1111!!

[G3TDOWN]

fair ?

[TapiocaMilkTea]

yeah, wasn't that the point all along? A stripped down PS3 that's cheaper to manufacture so they can do a price drop and hype up the PS3 again at the same time? I'm guessing the Slim will retail for $329.99, which comes with a 80gb drive.

[Elven6]

There is actually a decent chunk of people who want small electronics, in Japan for instance, one of the many reasons the original Xbox failed was the hug size of that thing. Similar cases can be seen with the PS3, making it smaller will encourage these people to jump in.

[Bnet343]

"Similar cases can be seen with the PS3, making it smaller will encourage these people to jump in. "

Irony.

[Godmars290]

Certainly a less expensive model - so say the cheap bastards.

If they can improve media playback over what they already have, return BC, so much the better.

On the other end, I wonder if MS can make a slim 360 given that its HHD case is much of the height and width.

[Whut]

Why Does The PS3 Need To Be Slim Anyway?

because It's FAT. burn some calories and get in Shape ! people will start thinking you're Attactive and might start thinking about buying you @ PS3.

[xino]

Slimmer PS3=Cheaper to develop. Thus making the ps3's price to be slashed.

[aiphanes]

Slim is sexy...and the PS3....which is already the sexiest console...will be simply awesome!

[xjxdoggggy]

ps3 sexiest console...not hardly...forman grill look alike that u touch it smudges u drag your finger nail across it scratches ...naw..def NOT a sexy console the design is very silly look actually...sexy console ever hmm...dreamcast maybe?
still nothing beats a sexy PC tower..like my cooler master :)

[Mr Tretton]

"...but the one thing that we really haven't seen is anyone ask the question that we are about to ask and that is "Why Does The PS3 Need To Be Slim?"

No one's asked, because it's a stupid question.

[MGOelite]

cause its a fat bastard and weighs like 2 ton

[user3915800]

George foreman grill its smaller and lighter than the PS3, Fact.
The biggest and heavier console in history @ 11.2 Lbs its heavier than 2 born babies.

PS3 should not go slimer, it should get out off the gaming market.

[Nihilism]

if i'm not mistaken the production cost for all of the consoles has come down significantly for all of the console manufacturers, and the only company to bring down the price has been microsoft.....when microsoft is acting less greedily than sony.....or at least screwing the consumer less than sony (whether it be for themselves or not), you know somethings wrong...considering that microsoft = satan

[truehunter]

I wonder if PS3 slim will put more RAM into it ??
the XMB + while playing a game + while DL a game realy taking a toel.

[kaveti6616]

No, changing performance specs would alienate other PS3 owners. The revision made with the PS3 slim doesn't change the performance of the console in terms of gaming and processing.

[-MD-]

We don't need a slim PS3 just like we don't need a slim 360. Start pumping out more games and stop worrying about how fat your console is.

[Obama]

That power brick of the 360 is like huge.

[Mo0eY]

You're right. Most gamers don't give two flips and a flop about what their consoles look like. Other casual people are looking at the size of the box as to how it will fit in their entertainment and how it looks to just blu-ray players. Another thing to consider is power consumption.

[-MD-]

Yeah the power brick is pretty large but it's really no big deal as it easily fits behind the tv.

[Rob0g0rilla]

Making the PS3 smaller would definitely attract new customers, and who's to say they won't cut the price on the older models.

[Eiffel]

Because Sony for some odd non fetish related reason love to slim their brands.
PS1...if you count that slim one that came with the attached LCD screen.
PSP Slim(2000)
PS2 Slim
PS3 Slim

Really its anyones guess.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

PS3 is a premium product at a premium price. If Sony released a "slim" model that had some features removed and targeted it toward "entry-level" consumers at a lower price, it could work well for them. I don't know how much money could be saved by these, but they could put in a smaller harddrive just for game save data and a couple installs at a time, remove wi-fi, and perhaps remove bluetooth, requiring controllers to be connected via USB (would still use the same controllers). There are a lot of people who wouldn't care that they are missing those features if they got the system cheaper.

[njmzhang]

Cost reduction

[KillerPwned]

Playstation has a slim playstation 2 has a slim psp has pretty much multipl slims so playstation 3 will probley have a slim sometime. But a price cut is needed more then that now. Does anyone remember tho that back as far as i can remember into the ps2 era. The ps2 slim was more expensive then the older one (im pretty sure).So if a slim came out the older ones would probley drop in price possibley to get rid of stock i would assume.

[KilZoneGeneralStrife]

I know the PSP Go is a bit outragously priced,BUT if the leaked pictures are real. . .that looks like a console that is built for a price reduction.The gloss finish isnt there. The sensitive buttons for on/off eject isnt there (I mean,dammit,its like the iphone ,when u put it up to ur face the screen turns off,and the current ps3 only turns on/off if your finger or any part of your body switches it on.I discoverd that in winter,when I had gloves on lol) ,the new PS3 definitly is cheaper looking. . .but,you get what you pay for I guess.

[Loxhart]

Common sense, the console weighs over 5kg and is big...

Question answered. And as someone stated before, slim is sexy...

[Griffmo]

Anyone else agree Sony should have had more aggressive marketing prior to this slim thing? We all know how expensive it is, but it has so much more in the ONE box than the competitors. This should have been drilled into questioning consumer's heads. Much like cars are compared to similar models from other companies.
Remember the PS1 days when Crash used to heckle the US Nintendo offices in Sony's ads? Good stuff...
.

[Marty8370]

It's called progresssion. The previous playstation models had there own cheaper/smaller,versions, coupled with a price drop. So why not PS3? PS3 production costs has droped over 50% since launch. So the only way forward to reduce production costs further is through a chip process shrink to 45nm, that way more chips can be produced per waffer making PS3 cheaper to produce. That way Sony profits sooner rather than later. Then later down the line Sony then passes on some of the savings to the consummer and PS3 sales explode.

It's gonna happen, just a matter of when.

[Tomarcus]

Lower weight, lower shipping costs as well.

[CaptainMarvelQ8]

id rather have a price cut than having a slim ps3
actually there is no point in having one
and like blaze said:a slim wont bring price cut

[kaveti6616]

Blaze is wrong. Sony makes a PS3 slim. IF the PS3 slim costs less money to make than the PS3, then Sony can sell the PS3 slim at a slightly lower price, just enough to make a small profit and still be selling a less expensive PS3. That's what the PS3 slim is all about. IF Sony wants to maximize profits then it could sell the PS3 slim at the same price as the PS3, but Sony knows that this won't increase sales that much.

With the PS3 slim eventually comes a price cut.

[psthreee]

i hated slim ps2 i liked it fat and i dont wanna slim ps3

[-MD-]

I liked how small the slim ps2 was but the flimsy disc tray that popped up was horrible.

Looking back on it I actually liked the look of the fat PS2 better.

[Noah]

It's a PlayStation Tradition, they did it to the PSOne, PSTwo, and now the PSP Go!

[DevastationEve]

True, they managed to slim down those consoles very well. But they did so without cutting out important features.

To do it to a PS3, which launched at $600 might I remind you, would be very difficult. USB, memory stick readers, wifi, bluetooth, 1Gb ethernet won't be the problem, nor will they add up to much in savings. It's the mainboard that takes a chunk of the production costs. And the PS3 chipset that consists of a processor that IBM would still like to see profits from, the CellBE, as well as technology that as a whole won't be found in any other industry (XDR, FlexIO, EIB, etc). So they NEED PS3 to make them money as CellBE/XDR never went mainstream.

You have to remember that IBM only really makes money off of CellBE when it's in a PS3. Server system builders haven't bought into Cell as much as IBM would've liked, and many prefer cheaper offerings from Intel or AMD. So IBM is going to keep CellBE in PS3 well priced to keep their investment lucrative in the end. What good is CellBE to IBM if Sony can drop the price of PS3 and make it unprofitable for both companies?

[LCF]

Actually the CellBE is being used widespread in the medical field for HD imaging and micro surgery. Also Top-end IBM IT servers are CellBE equipped and all of IBM servers have been upgraded company wide to CellBE. Toshiba's high-end Flat panels use CellBE and can PIP 12 HD channels on one screen. RoadRunner is the fastest computer on the planet powered by a cluster of CellBE. Cell is more widespread than you think.

[bankai]

the last fat PS2 model was the best in my opinion, so was the last larger model of the PS1. so i think i will stick to my fat PS3

[DelbertGrady]

Might make it look less of a failure.

[Marty8370]

Your such a prick.

[ssipmraw]

kinda like you fat arse

[iceman06]

Seems like slim seems to attract people who somehow think that they have the newest, hottest, thing. I can remember the same thinking going into the DS lite and the PSP slim. For some reason, smaller electronics translates to "I gotta have it". As far as the price cut, if the SLIM is a cheaper version of the original, then it is the only logical step. Sony has reduced the size of some of the components from the original simply by ridding itself of the PS2 innards that used to be there for backwards compatibility and removed the various card readers. If they cut WIFI, why couldn't if be cheaper. Plus, Blu-ray technology is less expensive than when the PS3 was first introduced. They could even cut the touch sensitive power and eject buttons. I'm sure that is skimping, but saving nonetheless.
Sony has been hemorrhaging money ever since the release of the original PS3. Believe me, they want a price cut...but not at the financial ruin of the company. Remember Sony doesn't have the backup coffers of cash like Microsoft, they still have to try to turn a profit. After all, that's what a business is supposed to do.

[bankai]

i can agree with part of your comment, but as far as back up in cash for the company as a whole they do have that. they pretty much push every form of in house and portable tech in existence, not to mention they are heavily involved in the film and music industry.

though sony was hit with its largest loss ever, microsoft as well as many other large corporations are all suffering losses due to our economic situation.

as far as the gaming divisions go. the PS3 was one of the biggest reasons for sony's financial hit; however, even though microsoft too a hit too, the 360 sightly softened the blow.

either way, neither corporation really has money to blow and every move is a gamble. Project natal is as much of a gamble as the PS3 being put on the market. ps3 though it is still selling at a loss, they are meeting the 10 million / year goal. not bad considering they pretty much based the life of their console on whether or not bluray would pass as the new video format. Project natal though the concept is being embraced now and its a good idea on paper, we have no way of telling if it will be great or not until it comes out. and it will be one of those things that either flops or goes over well with the fans. alot of people compare it to what the wii is doing, but that comparison cant really be made. lets face it, most people want to sit down and relax to do some gaming, if we wanted to be active we would find a new hobby (unless your talking about the soccer-moms love for wiifit). the wii, though it requires action your can still sit back and relax and just move your hands around a little; but with natal you will be forced to be up and active, thats 100% different. but we wont know anything till its released. i look forward to seeing what comes from both microsoft and sony.

its cool to see how far gaming has come; looking back on the atari consoles, Colecovision, Sega master system, NES to now :)

[ultimolu]

They need to lower the cost of production?

[DevastationEve]

A 30lb desktop always costs LESS to build than a 5lb laptop, even if you have to add the cost of speakers keyboard and monitor. Going smaller (or slimmer) doesn't necessarily mean cheaper. They have to build things tighter and usually that means that they need to build everything inisde to custom fit.

[silvacrest]

i agree to an extent but things like an external power supply
(like the 360 power brick) cheaper components and reduced features
would equal a smaller, cheaper PS3

[PELVIC THRUST ACTION]

BECAUSE IT'S FAT! YUK YUK YUK

[cyborg6971]

That's funny soda kinda like your face. Little bit of down a pinch of fetal alcohol syndrome and a whole lotta inbreading. Maybe you should ask your brouncle if you can take his/your sister to prom again next spring.

[silvacrest]

Sony are known for sliming down there gaming hardware

isnt that reason enough?

besides, the current PS3 is so heavy

[TheMART]

They need a slim so it finally fits on the shelves in the stores, instead of in the BBQ section besides the other grills...

[maverick1191]

yeh abit like the 360 is in the heating section next to the radiators
mart you walked into that one LMAO

[Marty8370]

With comments like that. Can you even spell your own name.

You act like like your a 7 year old.

Why do you even open your mouth, cos only the brown stuff comes out of it.

[jordanlund]

As of right now Sony is losing $40 on every PS3 sold and they aren't making that money back on software sales.

Hardware sales are down every month for the last 8 months compared to last year. People just aren't buying the PS3.

In order to spur sales they need to cut the price, but they can't do that with the current hardware. The only thing they can do is re-engineer the hardware, make it smaller and cheaper so they can cut the price (hopefully by around $100.)

[danielle007]

Aren't those silly PS3s alredy skinny? Now you're asking them to be anorexic? Sigh.. People's obsession with skinnyness these days.

[ELite_Ghost]

anything skinny/slim is automatically sexier. Why reject a perfect physique?

[TABSF]

one big advantage of the slim ps3 is 45nm chips meaning, even less failure rates as overheating will be less of an issue because the chips will require less power

[ian72]

I think the PS3 looks great as it is. If I had a choice of the slim we have seen in photo's or the bigger one which I already have I would pick the bigger one. Looks a lot nicer IMO. The slim we have seen so far looks cheap and nasty. Big one's nice and shiny and looks great.

[Flare149]

While I agree that the price cut is important, the article is flawed. FIrst of all, Sony has already commented on saying they've cut down some costs by making parts smaller and easier to mass produce. That means that the "price cut" which isn't supposed to happen according to Sony, will probably come in the form of a cheaper model that is less expensive to manufacture (aka the Slim). Additionally the article mentions things like "Blu-Ray hasn't made an impact" and "Sony needs to add on to PSN so it COMPETES with XBL". LAst time I checked, Blu-Ray sales were only going up and were selling faster than DVDs originally were, even though we're in a recession. As for PSN/ XBL, any real journalist would have read others articles about how PSN has closed the gap. FOrget competing, it's about to PASS XBL.

AS other smart people have mentioned, a PS3 Slim would cut down development costs. Even if the author was correct, it's been noted several times that the Slim would probably cut out some features, thus making it cheaper. What's the best part? The PS3 is doing all of this, closing the gap, and in a RECESSION.

[vShinobi]

Because its fat and could loose some weight.

[lizard81288]

they're saying gamers need to be slimmer.
sony: "we did it and so can you!"

:D

[i3eyond the Circle]

Well maybe sony is getting the picture that a plethora of nice 1st party titles aren't fixing the ps3 in 3rd problem.

A slim Ps3 is what Sony needs, a change of image grants lots of attention.

And attention = sales.

It's like going from 300lb to 110lbs.... everyone will notice.