Hirai: PS3 Slim Still Losing Money
- Scribbled on August 25th, 2009 by Jordan Lund
- Filed in Interviews, Shows and Events, Sony PlayStation 3
During the big Cologne Gamers Conference last week, representatives from The Times were there to sit down with Kaz Hirai and discussed the upcoming Playstation 3 Slim. One of the more important revelations was that the PS3 Slim is still being sold at a loss, how much of a loss is not being revealed.
From the Interview with the Times:
“It’s well known that Sony loses money on every PS3 it sells. Will that still be the case with the new machine? If you’re just talking about the hardware alone, the quick answer is yes.”
Back in 2006, when the machine first launched, estimates put the loss at $241.35 for each 60 GB unit, and $306.85 for each 20 GB unit. More recently the loss was pegged at just $40 per unit. So it’s puzzling that their re-design is still coming at a loss. Conventional wisdom would say that a hardware re-design and a shift from a 65nm CPU to a 45nm one would be a cost reduction that would make the machine profitable. Apparently that’s not the case.
Kaz Hirai doesn’t seem too concerned, saying:
“I think the better indicator is to look at the business as a whole platform, to ask: are you profitable in terms of the hardware, software and peripherals. And the answer to that question is yes on a gross profit level since the last fiscal year.”
Which would be great – if it were true. Unfortunately, the PS3 has never been profitable, in terms of hardware or software. Sony’s gaming division as a whole lost ¥58.5bn ($621 million) in 2008. That is an improvement over the ¥200+ billion ($2.1+ billion) lost the year before, but nowhere near what you would call “profitable”.
October 30th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
[...] makes Kaz Hirai’s statement in August that Sony was still losing money on the PS3 Slim are the more [...]