Still no PS3 price drop despite 70% reduction in manufacturing cost
by Stevie Smith - Aug 3 2009, 16:30
Nice saving, Mr. Sony. So, where's that price cut!? Image: Amagill/Flickr.
Prospective PlayStation 3 buyers waiting in the wings for Sony to finally announced sweeping price cuts are likely to be grinding their teeth in frustration following news that the Japanese electronics titan has managed to reduce the videogame console’s associated manufacturing costs by a whopping 70 percent.
More pointedly, Sony Corp. CEO Nobuyuki Oneda has revealed that product line overheads connected to the powerhouse multimedia platform have been scaled back by “about 70 percent, roughly speaking,” since the console launched almost three years ago.
Total Video Games reports that the dramatic cost reduction was outlined by Oneda during a Sony conference call for international investors held after the company recently posted financial details related to the first quarter of 2009.
“The cost reduction since we introduced the PS3 is very substantial and this is on schedule,” explained Oneda. “We don’t disclose how much of the PlayStation 3, specifically the cost deduction, was achieved during the past two years. But that is on schedule.”
While Sony has never officially divulged the PlayStation 3’s manufacturing costs, avid industry watchers such as online trade publication GamesIndustry.biz postulate that the console presently costs Sony around $240 USD per unit, “which could indicate room for the widely rumoured price cut” that has been following the PlayStation 3 for several months.
Despite those persistent rumours, repeated statements by Sony Computer Entertainment have suggested the company is progressing on-track in the videogame market and has absolutely no intention of reducing the current price point attached to its PlayStation 3 home console.
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