PS3 manufacturing costs being slashed by 35%.
http://www.gameplayer.com.au/gp_documents/081231PS3CheapertoMake.aspx
"Christmas has come and gone, which saw the bundling and reduction in prices for various consoles on the market today. Now if one was to shop around, there was some decent savings to be made off the RRP of the PS3 (not to mention some great bundled inclusions), but one thing that was lacking in the lead up to the silly season, was a price drop to bring Sony’s console more in-line with its nemesis, the Xbox 360. While the arguments over value for money still rage like wildfire across the internet, a research firm has released some interesting details on Sony’s advances in PS3 manufacturing technology.
According to an article over at Bloomber.com, Sony has reduced the cost of producing a PS3 console by 35%. Research firm iSuppli claims that, according to mid-2007 component prices, the first-gen PS3 consoles weighed in at $690.23USD per unit to manufacture. Fast-forward to October 2008 component prices and a PS3 can be put together for around $448.73USD. According to these figures, Sony’s next-gen console is still being sold at a loss, but further revisions should allow them to cut production costs even more.
A first-generation PS3 was comprised of some 4,048 parts according to iSuppli, which has since been reduced to roughly 2,820 components. While the component reduction is certainly impressive, it has been at the expense of certain features in an effort to produce cheaper consoles (full PS2 game backwards-compatibility springs to mind). With rumours circulating that Sony is planning a PS3 price drop in the new fiscal year (around April 2009), iSuppli’s discoveries may well pave the way to a cheaper console for those still holding out for the Blu-ray packing console".
