I was thinking the same. Android shouldn't be costing them anything (unless there are fees somehow associated with running the OS on a TV instead of, say, a mobile device) and Google is happy to get the Google Play Store on those devices. However, I've never bought a Sony TV since the 90s, so I'm not sure if they fork the Store out of their devices or not. A true "Playstation TV" would be a really great idea. It would require some better-than-usual Sony marketing to generate a proper level of interest.

Fat Avatar looks familiar.. Hmmmmmmm....

Sounds like someone I would argue with.

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I full expect Sony and Microsoft to go *lower* than last generation in terms of price, the Scorpio and Playstation 4 Pro shoulhid help increase the average selling price anyway and counter balance it.

Just recently though we had the Xbox One S at $250 AUD. Where-as a new 4Gb Xbox 360 was sold for $180 AUD at the same place, so we are getting there!

Does MS still make money from Android OS or is that patent crap over? If they still get money for it, I wonder if Google would pass that cost onto Sony etc. 

Yea, I did argue with him.  Tried arguing that the custom architecture of the PS3 is what was holding it back from a faster drop to sub $299, and with more off the shelf components, PS4 and XBO wouldn't see that same slow decline in price.  Wish I remembered who it was.  They may be gone for all I know.  Had the link saved in my bookmarks, but have since reinstalled Windows and don't feel like searching for it in my post history.

Thinking more about it, it may have been $249 and not $299.  Either way, still too high.  I definitely see it hitting $149 in less than two years.

Please explain to me, in detail, why iSupply (we are not even talking production costs, we are talking manufacturing costs) estimated manufacturing costs at around $310 in its detailed teardown of the XBox Slim. I'm really curious to see why you think MS can make a profit selling the product at $199.

Of course estimates are not exact. I am reasonably experienced in the mass manufacturing industry to estimate manufacturing costs of consoles within probably 10-15% accuracy (I get lower values than iSupply, but whatever).

The ever so popular argument "it will likely be cheaper in a year" is completely false. It is true for an initial production run compared to later "routine" production runs. For example, manufacuring PS3s and X360s now is _considerably_ more expensive than it was 2-3 years ago. This is a simply law of numbers (and increasing labour costs everywhere, even and particularly in China).

As to who is opposed to losing money or not (and at $199, we are not talking about "some" losses, those are massive losses on a per unit base) is anyones guess. Sony obviously is less willing than MS, as the price of the PS4 in Europe has - after some short promotions - regularly been jacked up to full MSRP during the entire year while X1s were cheap all through the year. You will see it in the quarterly fiscal reports. My guesss is, as last year, record sales but profits will be considerably down (I think Sony even reported a small loss, not sure tho).