If Sony weren't piggybacking the BR drive sales on top of the PS3 sales, then we quite possibly would have seen a DVD enabled PS3 for half the price of the PS3. Also, it was the integration of the BR player in the PS3 that was the primary cause for the delay as well.
There is no way the PS3 could have been sold for $999, I doubt there would have been more than 1m WW sales at this point.
Yes, the PS3 did come out at a high price $599, and at launch was costing more money to build than they were selling them at. But with the reduction of costs with the chips, removal of the EE and extra RAM as well as the huge reduction of the costs for the BR parts will mean that the PS3 will have been making money for Sony before the $100 pricecut.
The PS3 now needs to get to a price point where it is a viable purchase for gamers other than the "must have" crew. Unfortunately, this point is still another $100-$200 away and IMHO at least 18 months away.
Prediction (June 12th 2017)
Permanent pricedrop for both PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro in October.
PS4 Slim $249 (October 2017)
PS4 Pro $349 (October 2017)
