| oni-link said:
It is very clear on the interview http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/07/sony-idUSWEN407220110607 that the PS Vita is losing money regardless of 3G or WiFi model. The cost of manufacturing means almost nil when you consider that retailers often mark up hardware devices anywhere between 40-50% or higher of what the manufacturer sells them for example. Hence, the reason why the 3DS is still selling at a loss on a $170 retail price even though the B.O.M. is <$100. (@$170 Nintendo is selling the device to retailers at around $110 at 50% markup). Though this debate is pointless as the interview already stated that the Vita is sold at a loss and cutting it's price is out of the question for Sony at the moment. |
You are mistaken, which is understandable given how similiar it sounds to that, but he does not say that it is being sold at a loss. That was not even part of the interview.
"The company aims to make a profit on hardware sales of the new PlayStation Vita handheld in less than three years" -Kaz Hirai
That was not an answer on selling individual hardware at a loss. They are talking about the profitabilty of the Vita for the company. You are simply misinterpreting the arcticle. They are talking about when Sony expects the income from the Vita to turn a profit from the costs of developing it, not on individual manufactured units.
Where are you getting your markup percentages? Retailers don't make that kind of money off these products. Also, where are you getting those 3DS number? $110? I could see packaging bringing it to $110 but what about the distubuters? Wholesalers?
I do not think Nintendo is loosing very much money on 3DS sales right now. It is not a stretch to think that the Vita could be making a small profit when it has $20 to $70 more room to work with. Do you think the 3DS is selling at a greater than $70 loss? From the data, I can only conclude that the Vita is making a profit, or atleast the 3G model is.
Before the PS3 everyone was nice to me :(
