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thismeintiel on 04 March 2018
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Conina said:
thismeintiel said:

Also, keep in mind that Sony isn't going to be making a $375 machine that they will see profit on, or even a $400 machine they will break even on.  Sony has always sold HW at a loss, and the PS5 will be no different.  They will be making a system that will be as powerful as they can for $450-$475,...

https://www.engadget.com/2013/11/19/ps4-costs-381-to-make-according-to-hardware-teardown/

 

thismeintiel said:

...which also includes chips they get at cheaper prices due to bulk sales and buying them directly from AMD, and recoup losses with SW and PS+ sales. 

Why exactly should they get a much better price from AMD than the graphics card manufacturers who also buy AMD chips in bulks? Especially in a market where the demand for powerful chips is much higher than the supply due to crypto-currency mining?

 

thismeintiel said:

And without greatly custom chips, the prices for the HW will drop to where they are at least breaking even on HW after 6-12 months.

Just like the prices for Polaris chips dropped in the last 12 months or the prices for VEGA chips dropped in the last 6 months, right. And don't let us forget the price drops for RAM and flash memory in the last 12 months...

1. That's just an estimate.  I believe it when Sony themselves say they will sell at a loss, but recoup it with game sales, not some firm I've never heard of. 

2. I don't know, common sense.  The price you see on cards not only includes everything on those cards besides the chips (like cooling), it also includes the profit AMD wants from the chips PLUS the profit the card maker wants to see from the card PLUS the profit the retailer gets for selling the card.  Buying directly from AMD only includes the profit that AMD wishes to see, plus savings that manufacturers always give for buying in large quantities.  And given that Sony is going to be selling tens of millions of these things, if not 100M+, they can negotiate for lower prices than a card manufacturer can get for selling a few million.

3. The crazy crypto frenzy is going to have died down by the time PS5 goes in production, especially now that Bitcoin has proven its volatility lately.  Even if it wasn't, AMD can choose to prioritize who gets their chips.  And their future is going to rest on gamers upgrading HW, not miners chasing a few "coins."  Same goes for RAM.  The conditions of today are not going to be what they are in a year or two.  Prices are going to start to fall as manufacturers increase production to meet demand.