Will Sony ever make money off of PS3 hardware sales?

[czecherychestnut]

TWRoO said:

czecherychestnut said:

sabby_e17 said:

rafichamp said:
When new chips roll in, the system will be $100 dollars cheaper to make, and with the slim, maybe about $5. So when the Slim comes out at $299.99, Sony could be making about $3 per console, and about $110 per PSP Go, very good position to be in.

Lol how will it be $100 cheaper to make?

Well I don't know about $100 exactly, but smaller process Cell and GPU = more chips per wafer start = cheaper unit price per chip. Plus smaller process IC's typically use less power, meaning Sony can install smaller, lower power PSU's (hence cheaper) and smaller, simpler heatsinks. Smaller process fabrication could also allow Sony to combine many small support IC's into one, simplifying the motherboard design, which again makes it cheaper, with the added bonus of quicker manufacture, reducing labour costs per unit made. Lastly, a smaller PS3 allows smaller packaging, which reduces shipping costs. Whether its $100 cheaper, no idea, but it certainly will be cheaper to manufacture and distribute.

Yes, but a change from 60nm to 45nm isn't going to save them $100.... maybe $50 at best but that still isn't including the cost to change everything to the new process (changing moulds etc)

Probably not, but remember a shrink from 65nm to 45nm results in a 50% reduction in chip area, hence twice the number of IC's per wafer, hence half the cost per unit (quite broad assumptions, but its a guestimate). So with the extra cost of 45nm fabrication, lets say each 45nm cell costs 60% of a 65nm one. So you are nearly halving the cost of two of the most expensive components in the PS3, even before you factor in all the other cost savings I mentioned previously. Sure it might cost $100million to redesign the masks for 45nm, but over the next 20 - 30 million PS3's, its wittles down to bugger all per unit, and insignificant compared to the savings involved.