PlayStation 3 System Sales No Longer a Money Pit

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
14,499
0
0
PlayStation 3 System Sales No Longer a Money Pit



It's official gang, the PlayStation 3 is now being sold at a profit.

Traditionally, videogame console creators like the current big three - Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo - have lost money on sales of hardware to keep consumer cost down and to get their machines in as many homes as possible. This loss is then ideally made back mostly through software sales. Sony recently announced that after 3.5 years of PlayStation 3 [http://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-3-Games/b/ref=sr_tc_2_0?ie=UTF8&node=14210751&qid=1276717021&sr=1-2-tc] sales, it has finally gotten the system's costs down to a point where the hardware is profitable too.

While Nintendo changed the game and made a profit on every Wii sold down to $18 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/87787-Nintendo-Profits-6-Per-Wii-Sold]. Now, there is no loss taken at all.

As translated by Andriasang [http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/05/13/ps3_turns_profitable/], a Japanese Reuters report stated that Sony started turning a profit on the PS3 at the end of March. Sony CFO Nobuyuki Oneda indicated that the profit is in the single digits, an he expects that the system could "reach double digit profitability in the near future."

Unfortunately for Sony, PS2 [http://www.amazon.com/Sony-PSP-Games/b/ref=amb_link_6257042_1?ie=UTF8&node=11075221&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=top-2&pf_rd_r=1SEJ2RVVGNPV4Q2QB90P&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_p=1266475002&pf_rd_i=psp] hardware and software sales were down last year. Sony expects to sell 15 million more PlayStation 3 systems this year, and at a profit to boot, while it's being rumored that Sony may also unveil the PSP2, whatever it may be, at E3 2010. Will Sony's massive PS3 investment pay off, or will something come along that turns gamer attention away from the console before the end of its supposed 10-year life cycle?

Source: Andriasang [http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/05/13/ps3_turns_profitable/]

Permalink
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
5,630
0
0
Well, it only took years but finally makng money lol

congratulations!
 

Frank_Sinatra_

Digs Giant Robots
Dec 30, 2008
2,306
0
0
Yay, finally. Now we can add this nail to the coffin of the Console Wars.
Won't it be a great world when it's finally all gone?

On the PS2 sales being down: Maybe now Sony will consider having not only a PS1 classics area in the PSN store, but a PS2 classics as well.
A guy can dream.
 

Kenjitsuka

New member
Sep 10, 2009
3,051
0
0
Congrats on this, Sony!
Now release the PS2 emulation feature you have had since day one and I'll be happy too :)
 

The Rockerfly

New member
Dec 31, 2008
4,649
0
0
Wonderful

Shame about that massive loss of the sold models they have to recover from

I don't suppose you could do a similar story on the Xbox side, I am interested in the sales figures and money involved on both sides
 

Jeronus

New member
Nov 14, 2008
1,305
0
0
It's like the kid who spent the last three years in the same grade finally graduating to the next one. Congrats, Sony but the rest of the class is still ahead of you.
 

fix-the-spade

New member
Feb 25, 2008
8,639
0
0
Well that's good news.

The real question is, how many have they got to sell and over what period of time to make the PS3 break even overall?

I wonder about that with the 360 as well, not to mention how much of a deficit this puts them at against Nintendo and it's sold at a profit the whole time Wii. Never mind what it will make Sony's higher ups think about signing off a development budget for the eventual PS4, if they do it at all.
 

GonzoGamer

New member
Apr 9, 2008
7,063
0
0
Frank_Sinatra_ said:
Yay, finally. Now we can add this nail to the coffin of the Console Wars.
Won't it be a great world when it's finally all gone?

On the PS2 sales being down: Maybe now Sony will consider having not only a PS1 classics area in the PSN store, but a PS2 classics as well.
A guy can dream.
Don't worry, they're on the way; that's the reason sony got rid of the BC feature.

I'm glad sony's making a profit on ps3s; now maybe they can afford to give it some half decent support.
 

Joe Matsuda

New member
Aug 24, 2009
693
0
0
I'm so proud of you, Sony...but it took you this long?

really? You know what it's like to live in a world were 360s are sold like wildfire and microsoft grows larger and more evil?!?

its not a nice world............freakin' 360......breaking down every half a year.......stealing all my hard earned cash for Live......
 

katsabas

New member
Apr 23, 2008
1,515
0
0
Finally. Better late than never. However they should drop the PS2 production line and release a PS2 emulation update. I am beginning to think that the PS2 line kind of holds back the PS3 one.
 

BehattedWanderer

Fell off the Alligator.
Jun 24, 2009
5,237
0
0
Good move for the Playstation part of Sony. Way to go!

So that makes two profitable consoles--anyone know the profit values of the 360?
 

RonHiler

New member
Sep 16, 2004
206
0
0
http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/playstation-3-finally-turning-a-profit-on-each-console-sold/

The interesting bit is a little buried toward the end:


By comparison, the Xbox 360, which sold at a loss of around $100 per unit when it debuted, quickly began to see a profit of $75per console within a year and a half of the its release.