4 things PS4 needs to win next gen

[JoeTheBro]

Conegamer said:

Andrespetmonkey said:

Conegamer said:

Andrespetmonkey said:

Conegamer said:
1. They wouldn't be making a profit at that, they can't afford not to. Check the link in this point, it'll break even with the specs I have in mind
2. Only 1 of those games has a chance of coming at launch, and that's the New IP.
3. It'll be hard, but the most likely.
4. Looking at the Vita, that ain't gonna happen.

I hope Sony are gonna change after their lackluster Vita launch, I really do but from current trends, it doesn't seem likely.

I did, but you've gotta remember they need to sell it to retailers and they need to make a profit, $50 is about right, so Sony would sell it for $350 to retailers, at the lowest.

Not a profit.

So let's say the retailers get £30, with my specs Sony sells it to retailers for £315/340 (2 models) and retailers sell it for £300/350, this means they'll make a small loss on one model and a small gain on the other. Both models will be making a decent profit within a year, that's totally feasible.

A small loss on each system, let alone one model is no big deal, that money is easily made back in game sales, and in todays market a lot of money will be made through services like Netflix and PS+. If there was a £50+ loss then I could see how that would put Sony in a bad position considering their financial state, but £15 loss on one model will be made back really easily.

Upon reflection, no retailer would stock it were they to be only making #30 on the system. Let's look at this a bit more closely:

The 3DS currently retails at #149, the system costs #97 to build, and Nintendo are making a loss on it. Therefore, we must assume they're selling it to retailers at #90, so the retailers make #59 on the system.

If they're making only #30, they'd either have to buy very, VERY few units to test the market, i.e. no more than pre-orders, or just not stock it at all, especially after less-than-stellar sales for the Vita, retailers will be cautious.

So I'd say they'll be looking at selling it to retailers to give them a #50-60 profit per unit, so any surplus stock won't hurt their margins massively (otherwise retailers would never be able to hold sales). Count in shipping costs, VAT and import fees (admittadly I'm not strong in this area), and Sony would have to produce their console for around #240/$289 for it to be sold here for #320, which would leave it at $400 in America. 

Now, your thread says it'd cost #299/$349 to produce with these specs. So they would, infact, be potentially losing #59/$60 per unit is sold for $400 at those specs. Sony could raise the price to $500, but it wouldn't sell. So they'd have to sell at a hefty loss, or reduce the specs.

Of course, it's possible this is all wrong, but I don't think it's too off the mark. There's more to sales and business than buying the components for less than what you sell it for, and we haven't spoken about labour, R&D, controllers etc. either.

(Note- # counts as a pound symbol, it's broken on this laptop).

Nintendo could likely get the components (if rumoured specs are true) for the WiiU for $179, and the controller $29, so selling it for $299 would leave a small profit, and $249 a small loss. It's a possibilty. 

Last I checked retailers don't make a profit on systems. Sony could easily pull a small profit at $400.