Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft - 1981 to 2011 gaming division profits chart

[Shinobi-san]

bonkers555 said:

thismeintiel said:

A203D said:
I dont know if this is right. the point of the razor blade model is that you loose money on the unit and make more money on the software. i cant believe that the PS2 (which i believe had about 1 billion units of software sold) made less money than the Gamecube.

i can believe that this is only a hardware chart. and that software numbers arnt included. if Nintendo was this successful they wouldnt have changed their strategy to the casual market, so it dosent make sense in the sense that, why would Nintendo restructure their gaming buisness if it was already so much more successful than its competetor?

It didn't.  But you will still have tons of Nintendo fans say it did because they only look at the overall numbers, and it sounds like something impressive to boast about.  However, those numbers include the GBA, which is where Nintendo was making most of their money.

@ OP

It's crazy that the Xbox brand is still in the red.  I can see why some investors a few months back were saying MS should get out of the console business and focus on Windows.  I think MS sees now that they may have a shot at making the Xbox a profitable brand in the long haul.  Though, I do think MS will pull out if the NeXbox isn't recieved as well as the 360.

You can say the same with the PS4. M$ have the money to back up the the gaming division if it losses money but can Sony the do same. As whole company, Sony been in the red. Can Sony afford a few more Billions loss on the gaming division like they did with the PS3.

I highly doubt either company will completely pull out of the gaming business or even the hardware business, just because of one failed console. These companies have major significance in the gaming industry and this gives increased value to their respective ecosystems...and nowadays it’s all about the ecosystem and the full entertainment package that ecosystem can offer. This happens to include gaming. So I don’t see either gaming company 'whimfully' pulling out of the industry just because of one console failure.

Worst case scenario, one company does extremely badly, although I don’t even think that’s possible at this point with each brand having a large support base. In that case, I think they might restructure things or take a different approach, but outright pulling out? That’s bullshit. It will take a complete industry meltdown for that to happen.

@bonkers555 Sony definitely has the cash to back their gaming division up, so I think you asking the wrong question. It’s whether or not they want to back up their gaming division or not? That’s the more important question I think. And I think the answer to that question is yes. Sony holds the Playstation brand in high regard and gives it great importance...they also back this up. We’ve seen how Sony has beefed up their first party development...to me I see this as reinforcing an army going to war. Sony is definitely not willing to be giving up their presence in gaming.