Viper on 16 February 2007
reverie said:What I do think is weird that while everybody who thinks he's in the know can tell you in general that software is where Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft make their money
While largely true for Sony and MS, this it's not as accurate for Nintendo.
Historically, Nintendo has always sold hardware for profit. The GC was the first exception as they took an initial $9.00 loss on hardware for the first year. Profit was made from that point on. With the DS and Wii, profit is rather sizable from the onset.
Sony is taking the largest loss per console ever for any console right now but expect to make profit in 2-3 years time (I don't agree with them on that though).
MS never made hardware profit on Xbox but has stated they now make profit on X360 hardware. I don't know how accurate that is but it can't be much nor will it erase the debt they've established anytime soon.
You are correct in that the bulk of all three companies profits come from software. Especially the publishing of software.
