PS4 Initial Cost Analysis (GAF / Beyond3D)

[Soleron]

outlawauron said:

Soleron said:
The silicon cost for a CPU/GPU is much less than the retail price. Like $50 vs $150. You can do the maths on TSMC 28nm wafer prices (public) and estimates of die sizes.

This. People dont' realize how high margin is on these components. There's a reason why NewEgg can have so many sales.

Not just the ~20% retail margin, but also that Intel as a company has a 60% gross margin for themselves. Then consider there are huge overhead costs that don't exist for Sony: the design of the CPU and GPU was done and paid off by AMD on their desktop products, and the wafer startup costs can be diluted over far more wafers than a single gaming GPU die would do, because PS4 will sell much more. Finally, a gaming GPU includes a board (not used), shroud (not used), ports (considered elsewhere) and also includes memory we're considering seperately, as well as a retail box, manuals, support and warranty coverage.