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Forums - Sony Discussion - PS5 is being sold at a loss (officially confirmed)

VideoGameAccountant on 06 February 2021

Nice it's confirmed, but it's been the norm for a while.



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Wman1996 on 06 February 2021

Obvious, I don't think any piece of PlayStation hardware ever was sold at a profit at launch.

As a whole, PS3 and PS Vita lost Sony money. I'm pretty sure PSP did long-term as well.



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Switch: 151 million (was 73, then 96, then 113 million, then 125 million, then 144 million)

PS5: 115 million (was 105 million) Xbox Series S/X: 57 million (was 60 million, then 67 million)

PS4: 120 mil (was 100 then 130 million, then 122 million) Xbox One: 51 mil (was 50 then 55 mil)

3DS: 75.5 mil (was 73, then 77 million)

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AJNShelton on 06 February 2021
siebensus4 said:

This isn't actually something unusual, because PS4 and especially PS3 were sold at a loss, too. On the other hand, Nintendo is making profit with every Switch being sold, right from the start.

I believe the PS4 Wasn't sold at a loss



Sogreblute on 06 February 2021
SKMBlake said:
siebensus4 said:

This isn't actually something unusual, because PS4 and especially PS3 were sold at a loss, too. On the other hand, Nintendo is making profit with every Switch being sold, right from the start.

I believe the PS4 Wasn't sold at a loss

Also it seems Sony was taking at most a $60 loss per unit at launch. https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-09-20-sony-expects-to-recoup-playstation-4-hardware-loss-at-launch



Bofferbrauer2 on 06 February 2021
Leynos said:

Nintendo is usually the only one making a profit out of the gate. Even when they made hardware of equal or better power than their rivals.

Nintendo is the only one of the three who can't cross-finance selling at a loss with income from other divisions of the company, so selling a console at a loss is a huge financial risk for them. This is why the Wii U and 3DS, which both were sold at a loss (initially only the Wii U, but the early and strong price cut of the 3DS put it in that region, too), were so damaging for Nintendo's finances, and why they acknowledge that the Switch was really boom or bust for them due to this.

That being said, Nintendo could start lowering the price of the Switch by now. It's almost 4 entire years now without a pricecut...



The Nintendo eShop rating Thread: http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=237454 List as Google Doc:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aW2hXQT1TheElVS7z-F3pP-7nbqdrDqWNTxl6JoJWBY/edit?usp=sharing

The Steam/GOG key gifting thread: https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread/242024/the-steamgog-key-gifting-thread/1/ 

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Bofferbrauer2 on 06 February 2021
RolStoppable said:
Bofferbrauer2 said:

Nintendo is the only one of the three who can't cross-finance selling at a loss with income from other divisions of the company, so selling a console at a loss is a huge financial risk for them. This is why the Wii U and 3DS, which both were sold at a loss (initially only the Wii U, but the early and strong price cut of the 3DS put it in that region, too), were so damaging for Nintendo's finances, and why they acknowledge that the Switch was really boom or bust for them due to this.

That being said, Nintendo could start lowering the price of the Switch by now. It's almost 4 entire years now without a pricecut...

Huh?

There was an interview with Reggie where he claims that this was the case:

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/01/reggie_admits_switch_was_a_make_or_break_product_for_nintendo_after_poor_performance_of_wii_u



The Nintendo eShop rating Thread: http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=237454 List as Google Doc:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aW2hXQT1TheElVS7z-F3pP-7nbqdrDqWNTxl6JoJWBY/edit?usp=sharing

The Steam/GOG key gifting thread: https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread/242024/the-steamgog-key-gifting-thread/1/ 

Free Pc Games thread: https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread/248138/free-pc-games/1/

AJNShelton on 06 February 2021
Sogreblute said:
SKMBlake said:

I believe the PS4 Wasn't sold at a loss

Also it seems Sony was taking at most a $60 loss per unit at launch. https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-09-20-sony-expects-to-recoup-playstation-4-hardware-loss-at-launch

Yeah but there is "loss by adding extra costs" and there is "loss by the sole production cost exceding it retail price", and the second one is way worse.



bigjon on 07 February 2021

I am relived that almost everyone in this thread sees this as non-news.

Selling the console at a loss to make profit on games has been the way for so long. Typically within a year or 2 they start to break even on hardware.

I remember being in 1st grade and my older cousin explaining to me that Nintendo was selling the SNES at loss because they make money on the games.



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360- 37 million   Should trend down slightly after 3rd year peak

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Otter on 07 February 2021

A lot of weird posts in response to this. Confirmation of something only assumed, should always be "news" even if it was more or less known by most of us



Jranation on 07 February 2021
thismeintiel said:

This isn't exactly surprising. Sony has always done this. And why bring up Nintendo? Nintendo hasn't been pushing graphics for generations, now, so their products are cheaper to make. Even if they tried, no one's buying a $500 handheld. Well, not no one, but at lot fewer would.

They even had to lower the 3DS price. 



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