Sony loses $18 per console in US, possible profit in UK

[Alby_da_Wolf]

Squilliam said:

Alby_da_Wolf said:

Squilliam said:
If the hardware losses as implied are this low, then they must be losing money on something else. There are only 3 areas where they have big enough expenses to really lose all that money.

1. Advertising? They must be spending a lot here.

2. Game development? Face it, all HD publishers have been making losses and I doubt that Sony is any different.

3. Research and development? If they're spending heavily here, it means Console number 4 is inbound sooner than you think.

3. It takes some years do develop a new console, not less than 4, most likely 5, and by at least one year (better 1and 1/2 year) before release they must be able to give developers a working development system for launch titles. So if they started development in late 2008- early 2009, just to make a hypothesis, it could mean a 2013-2014 PS4 release, totally coherent with a planned lifecycle ot at least 7 years as main console and 2-3 years (even more if it keeps on selling) as entry level console. So yes, I agree. Curiously there are still people that don't understand that a 10 years lifecycle doesn't mean the next system is released after 10 years from the previous, some companies make latest and previous generations of their products overlap for a period, and Sony is amongst these ones (In other markets, like cars, Renault has currently done it with old and new Clio for a period quite long, not only to clear old stocks, FIAT has sold both old and new Punto for years, with the old one catering for a lower segment, just like Renault does, while Citroen and VW do it for shorter periods, in razors and blades market Gillette sells Mach3, Fusion and older models, etc).

You'd only account the costs of the R+D against the PS3 specifically if the R+D directly related to that console or successor. Since another handheld is expected far sooner than a new console you'd expect a majority of their efforts to be focusing on this area. Pre-production work and ramping up R+D are two different things, they have people working on the PS4 but probably not even a tenth of the people working directly on the successor to the PSP. Well at least thats the way I see it.

I completely forgot PSP! (*)  Yes, you're right about this, PSP successor should arrive quite sooner than PS3 one, given the disappointing results of the attempts to revive the former, while those for the latter worked a lot better. PSP2 release in Autumn 2011 wouldn't surprise me. OTOH , if PSP Go was meant to lengthen PSP life, an Autumn 2010 PSP2 release would be rushed, and I guess Sony prefers a meh Xmas 2010 for PSP rather than ruining PSP2 launch.

(*) Actually I don't like portables very much, I'm just mildly attracted by DS for its interactive recipe books, particularly those that suggest possible almost edible dishes given a disastrous choice of ingredients available in the fridge and larder.