Squilliam said:
I fixed your PS3/Wii prices because its unlikely that the Wii costs the same amount as the PS2 as it employs more advanced technology and some more expensive motion controls. Also it was stated recently that the PS3 was still losing money on every console sold. For the Xbox 360 prices you have to remember that its fixed + variable cost. If they sell 10% more systems then the fixed cost goes down ~10% per system. As the Xbox 360 has increased its sales over last year then obviously the fixed cost per system is reduced. Xbox 360 Jasper Variable cost reductions. Components
Manufacturing
Support
So likely a Xbox 360 Arcade produced under the Jasper specification is likely costing Microsoft a lot less overall than the Falcon specification |
Again, I was estimating pure manufacturing costs. Please do not change other peoples's numbers if you "think it unlikely that something ..". You just have to believe me that I know a lot more than you about industrial mass production of gadgets (having been involved in projects in that area for 25 years).
As for your points made above, here are some notes:
Wii and PS2 are essentially the same thing as far as manufacturing goes. Yes it looks damned cooler when you throw around your arms with sticks attached instead of pushing some buttons (and the _development costs_ were certainly higher for those sticks). But for mass manufacturing the stuff, it doesn't matter whether you make plastic boxes that wiggle in the air or not.
Your other points, components: You save a maximum of 50c on the power supply, if it is worth the effort at all (note that you need all new tools if you change a form factor of a gadget). Various reductions you note. This may come as a terrible surprise to you but component costs are actually going up for various reasons. Higher costs for raw materials, higher transportation costs (just to give you an example: last year you could still ship a standard sea freight container from continent A to B for $4000, currently you pay around $7000, that's a 70% increase), higher personnel cost drive prices up (in case you haven't read it in the newspaper: some chinese manufacturers have been seen moving into Vietnam because labor costs "have become too high in China").
Maunfacturing: In another thread I have given an estimate for the costs for a PS3 motherboard. Believe me or not, if you change the motherboard in any signficant way, manufacturing costs go up initially. There is maybe room for $1 savings on a bare X360 motherboard (not having examined one, I can't really be sure).
Support: These points are not manufacturing relevant and don't go into the equation.
I would have to examine a Jasper and a non-Jasper (populated) mainboard to estimate the cost reduction, but I doubt we are talking more than a few $. (Note that for PC mainboard manufacturers, a $2-$3 saving over your competitor's motherboard manufacturing costs could already be a life-saving enterprise).
