The woods for the trees: No the PS3 isn't doomed FFS!

[Squilliam]

NJ5 said:

The terrible burden of the Yens increased buying power. Actually its only really a burden if they convert profits back into the Yen as the PS3 itself is manufactured abroad.

It all depends on what currencies production is paid in. They manufacture in China. The Yen strengthened 12% against the Yuan (Chinese currency), but it strengthened much more (20-65%) against the dollar, euro, British Pound, AU dollar, CA dollar etc, which are the currencies they sell the most consoles in.

The only way they aren't getting affected by the Yen's strength is if they pay for manufacturing in dollars or Euros, which doesn't seem likely to me considering Sony's declarations to investors.

 

As I said earlier, its only an issue when they convert their profits back. The recession itself does a good job of making most of the components cheaper to manufacture. The actual material costs of the PS3, barring longer term contracts should if renegotiated at current rates come down significantly. I doubt that assembly alone is a significant part of the total costs for the PS3.