Do you think Sony will ever make a net profit from the PS3?

[Sorrow880]

@NJ5

First off, I'm not a Sony fanboy.

I support all the consoles and love them all. Hell, I was up till 2:00AM playing 360 just last night. 

Secondly, both are true.  Blu-ray (if successful) will help Sony recoup losses & the prices will drop just like DVD prices dropped even though there was no format war.


But yes, Sony will make money off blu-ray if it is successful and they do have royalties.
In addition, other partners will make money off blu-ray too. And the price will go down. Technology prices always drop. You don't have to have 2 different formats for the price to go down. DVD is a prime example--the prices have dropped DRAMATICALLY even though it is the only format. I bought a dvd recorder for $30.00 just the other day...not many years ago you couldn't get one for less that $400! Technology advances and competition always causes electronics to drop in price over time.

I'd wager we'll see a $50-75 blu-ray player in a few years if it is the successful format.

Now Samsung, Philips, Sony, Funai, etc. will all be competing for blu-ray hardware sales. e.g. Funai just announced a sub $300 blu-ray player at CES (rumored to be around $250)...Well, that will force someone else to come out with a $200 blu-ray player to try to gain sales.

So--all are true...Sony will make money, their partners will make money, and the cost of blu-ray players will continue to decline (probably not as quickly, but will still decline).