Guys, by how much do you think the new 45nm chips will reduce the ps3's price by?

DISCUSS

Well, production costs have probably dropped recently because of the recession. The demand for the raw materials would have dropped, causing the price to drop (much like oil), what's more, I'm guessing that they buy these resources from other countries, so the strength of the Yen would help them there.

However, the Yen is a two-sided sword, as it means that they're also selling the console for less. This probably outweighs the savings that they have made.

well can you atleast predict how much it would cost to manufacture a ps3? After the new chips roll in.

the 160GB edition at $499 is sure to make them a small profit but the main 80GB is still at a loss I think

I make Ps3s in my basement for about 100 bucks.

Sony is already making a profit on 160gb models, but do you remember when the 60gb got a smaller chip, from that they reduced the price from 499 to 399, so do you guys think that it will be atleast $60 cheaper to manufacture a ps3? (once the new chips arrive)

DISCUSSS

Actually, most of the info posted here is incorrect or misleading. The 481/440 figure that people are quoting is an isupply estimate for the sum of the costs of the individual components. So the amount of money that Sony makes on a PS3 today is

400 - 481 + the amount of cost reduction since then - about $50 to go to the retailer - about $20 for shipping and storage costs - $20 for manufacturing costs - a share of the advertising costs and the cost of replacing faulty units.

And then you must also consider that the strong Yen is hurting profitability.

I believe that Sony is actually making a considerable loss on PS3 hardware, somewhere in the region of $100. Being as the entire Playstation division is still running at a loss, and that includes profit from PS2 hardware, accessories and games, PSP hardware accessories and games, and PS3 accesories and games

$100 loss, I think thats too much, if they were losing money it would be around 10-14 dollars.

This is the latest official information:

Exchange rates have improved a bit since then, so perhaps they could be profitable around the holiday period (if they don't get worse again). Assuming there's no price cut of course.

We should get updated information by mid-May, when Sony does their financial report.

The PS3 launched with an estimated manufacturing cost of about $850 for the 60GB unit. Back in October the PS3 was estimated once again to have a manufacturing cost of about $450 for an 80GB unit. In other words, Sony manage to reduce the cost of producing a PS3 by about $400 in two years. As far as we know, the PS3 has recieved 3 major revisions since it was released.

August 2007: Removed PS2 CPU.
October 2007: Switched from 90nm Cell chips to 65nm. Removed PS2 GPU. Removed 2 USB ports. Removed SACD support. Removed Flash card readers.
August 2008: Switched from 90nm RSX chips to 65nm.

Of those revisions, the switching of the Cell and RSX chips account for the majority of the reductions in cost. The PS2 components couldn't have accounted for more than about $50 and I'd be surprised if the 2 USB ports, SACD support and Flash card readers amounted for even $100. So that leaves about $250 left with the large majority directly from the chip revisions.

I'd estimate that with the upcoming 45nm Cell revision coming some time around July this year, the PS3 could be anywhere from $75 to $125 cheaper to manufacture.