Sony: PS4 "Economics" Closer to the PS2 Than the PS3

[ThunderCavalier]

Personally, I just hope that the PS4 does well. I personally do enjoy the specs of the PS4 and the potential it has, and I hope that Sony doesn't somehow screw that up.

 

[Zipa]

It is selling at a loss, every time the escapist talks about this they get it wrong, there is no profit if the parts alone cost 380$. In fact there must be a significant loss when you account for all the logistics costs let alone marketing.

They also make a bigger profit outside of the US per console.

They bundle ones with 1 game are for sale in the UK are £385. £385 in USD is £628.98 so they are making way more. Can't really blame shipping costs either as I seriously doubt they are being made in the States or Europe. Taxes are not that bad in the UK either.

 

[mrhappy1489]

Is it really bad if I kinda wanted it to be less profitable?

Hell, if it had been selling at a $100 loss then it might at least have been a decently powerful machine.

I know lower prices are better for the general consumer, but as an enthusiast consumer I find it exceedingly difficult to give a crap about the general consumer when this probably means a fucking decade of games tech being horribly help back, and the divide between PC and console gaming growing ever wider.

As a PC gamer myself I'm really not that bothered by it. True, much of the tech for games is being held back by the consoles, but I just can't find it in me to be bothered by it. We are still moving forward and regardless of the current state of console tech, there will always be dedicated companies really putting their pc's through the ringers for those consumers who demand it and there will always be consumers who demand it. I think the main thing about consoles is that they are great introductory products for people looking to expand their gaming horizons or simply fun things you muck around with every so often for others and keeping it cheap will be to the better of the community.

In saying that , I do think that there are a lot of poisonous practices that are growing on these devices which are definitely to the detriment of the general gaming community, but I'm hoping as the community grows larger and people really start demanding more bang for their buck that these will change. While I can't be certain of this and economics is an inexact science at the best of times, I really do believe that as gaming continues to garner further recognition as a legitimate art form these effects will definitely lessen. I don't think we'll ever be completely rid of them, but hopefully they'll become less ubiquitous.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

definitely, but the PS3 is still selling at a loss. Thing is, they still have to split profits with retail partners with that. Better than the PS3, though pretty much EVERYTHING had a better margin than the PS3 did.

 

[blackrave]

It is selling at a loss, every time the escapist talks about this they get it wrong, there is no profit if the parts alone cost 380$. In fact there must be a significant loss when you account for all the logistics costs let alone marketing.

Thank you! This has bothered me for a while now, if the retail price is about the same as the production value then we have to expect that they are losing money from selling it or the retailers are working non-profit. Actually, the retailer would have to be working at a loss.

It isn't hardware that brings in main profit
Games are the ones that bring in cash
All Sony needs is to keep selling consoles at ~400USD price, while making sure there is enough games for PS4 to keep up the console sales.
In a year or two there will be profit from PS4 itself.

 

[Yopaz]

It is selling at a loss, every time the escapist talks about this they get it wrong, there is no profit if the parts alone cost 380$. In fact there must be a significant loss when you account for all the logistics costs let alone marketing.

Thank you! This has bothered me for a while now, if the retail price is about the same as the production value then we have to expect that they are losing money from selling it or the retailers are working non-profit. Actually, the retailer would have to be working at a loss.

It isn't hardware that brings in main profit
Games are the ones that bring in cash
All Sony needs is to keep selling consoles at ~400USD price, while making sure there is enough games for PS4 to keep up the console sales.
In a year or two there will be profit from PS4 itself.

I know, I think everyone does. I just get annoyed when people say Sony is making a profit on selling hardware because retail price is higher then the production cost.

 

[Ghadente]

I always enjoyed Sony products, especially the Playstation. However due to the lack of backwards-compatibility i'm passing on the PS4 for now at least. I still have plenty of games on PS3 to play so really no point in getting PS4 for quite a while. Really disappointed too, truly how difficult would it have been to allow the PS4 to play prior console games, at least PS3 ones. If it could i'd be down to get the PS4 right now.