prag16
Banned
Perception still matters, even if most will spring for the top SKU.
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Sony: "Unlike PS3, we are not planning a major loss to be incurred with PS4 launch"
- Thread starter Canis lupus
- Start date
metalslimer
Member
Sony says they don't want to take a major loss and people start talking about 349.99? Really?
For some reason people can't seem to figure out that hardware costs are not the only thing that goes into a console's price. Manufacturing, shipping, and storage alone are other ontributors to the price. I don't think it will be 499 necessarily, but the total costs to put on store shelves will probably be somewhere around there.
For some reason people can't seem to figure out that hardware costs are not the only thing that goes into a console's price. Manufacturing, shipping, and storage alone are other ontributors to the price. I don't think it will be 499 necessarily, but the total costs to put on store shelves will probably be somewhere around there.
SMT
this show is not Breaking Bad why is it not Breaking Bad? it should be Breaking Bad dammit Breaking Bad
Because, when have you ever bought a Sony home console under $500 at launch? Besides the PS1 (costo, $300).
Profitability right out the gate.
Crimson_Gold
Member
ape2man
Member
but that costs a lot to make. i saw that 8bg of gddr5 is $300 to make. thats pure costs
there's a table floating around the net of the production costs of ram in video cards.
metalslimer
Member
Now that's just straight up false.
The PS2 was $299.
The PS3 was the only system over $499 due to MANY of the components being entirely custom-made. The Blu-Ray diodes were a huge problem in particular. There is nothing in the PS4 that would drive up costs in the same way. Even the PS2 was more cutting edge for the time.
Crimson_Gold
Member
there's no way Sony is paying that much for it. Buying it in such mass quantities will drive the costs down and the wholesale price is likely much lower than $300 to begin with
SMT
this show is not Breaking Bad why is it not Breaking Bad? it should be Breaking Bad dammit Breaking Bad
I'm Canadian, PS2 was +500 with tax, (it was also a dvd player, so people bought it, just like PS3). I'm betting it will be 449-499.
Sure there's no Blu-ray high costs this time around, but I don't expect under 449. NO WAY!
It seems Americans forget that we (Canada) weren't always the $uperpower we are today.
Doubt it. Much more important to give the system a big head start and allow it to become well-established in the market rather than start off slow. The price was a major factor in the PS3's slow start. They're not going to repeat that.
It doesn't cost nearly that much. GDDR5 is not new tech.
ape2man
Member
i'm searching for the table now.
Chinpoko_Master
Member
Why do people always talk about the PS3 being $599 when the lowest SKU was $499?
Not that it was untrue of course, but it seems weird to point out the highest SKU.
Not that it was untrue of course, but it seems weird to point out the highest SKU.
Because people have no idea what the BOM actually costs. They can sell at $399 and not take (much) of a loss, however they won't be profiting.
prag16
Banned
You don't know that. We don't have a BOM yet obviously, and contrary to popular belief the BOM is far from the whole story. I'd be very surprised if any $499 SKU is profitable. $399 flows the red ink with gusto. I obviously don't know for sure either but that's what I would expect.
ape2man
Member
i think i was a bit off.
Could not find my old table here is the new one.
Can some one calculate the rate of growth 8gb would cost.
ThisWreckage
Banned
I tend to agree. The 499.99 version will probably have a bigger hard drive and come with the PS camera.
AgentP
Thinks mods influence posters politics. Promoted to QAnon Editor.
I doubt scaling older GDDR prices from a few years back is going to be meaningful.
A 2GB vs 4GB GTX680 MSRP is a $20 difference right now, so I expect Sony is getting their memory for $50-$80. They should get pretty good prices by making long term agreements for huge bulk amounts.
It's about $80-100 difference right now on most websites. I've yet to see any evidence that GDDR5 is getting cheaper.
I'm pretty sure that PS4 is going to be in the $500-600 range at launch, excluding any sort of contract subsidized models. If they're not planning to lose large amounts of money at launch then $400 should be out of the question.
THE:MILKMAN
Member
i think i was a bit off.
Could not find my old table here is the new one.
Can some one calculate the rate of growth 8gb would cost.
I have posted that graph before. Thing is we don't know how accurate these estimates are and on top that the graph I think is at least 2 years old.
One possibly interesting point (or not) is that it lists the 6950's 8 2Gbit chips (2GB) at $36.90 vs $18.45 for 8 1Gbit chips (1GB) for the 6850.
Could this mean 8GB of GDDR5 (4Gbit chips) costs the same for Sony has the "original" 4GB RAM using 2Gb chips? Or at least cost reduce to that level quickly?
Beer Monkey
Member
Adjusted for inflation, the PS3 was $680 at launch (20GB SKU was immediately discontinued and near impossible to find, it doesn't count).
I'd love to think there will be a $399 SKU, as it would be the first giant launch-to-launch generational price drop since Saturn->Dreamcast, and one of the few generational price drops period, but I just can't be that optimistic.
My guess is $449 is the absolute cheapest we will see a PS4 launch SKU and I am expecting $499 (and possibly just a single SKU).
I'd love to think there will be a $399 SKU, as it would be the first giant launch-to-launch generational price drop since Saturn->Dreamcast, and one of the few generational price drops period, but I just can't be that optimistic.
My guess is $449 is the absolute cheapest we will see a PS4 launch SKU and I am expecting $499 (and possibly just a single SKU).
Last Hearth
Member
Sony, y you no subsidize my gaming hobby?
evil_ash_xero
Banned
"600 dollas ain't shit!"
Azelover
Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
Weren't they gonna make a deal with an ISP?
I'm thinking they're both(Microsoft and Sony) going to offer their systems for $299 plus two years of Internet service. It's a great way to "win" the PR of pricing, without actually having to lose money.
I'm thinking they're both(Microsoft and Sony) going to offer their systems for $299 plus two years of Internet service. It's a great way to "win" the PR of pricing, without actually having to lose money.
I know the PS3 had a bad launch, but I would hope every company tries for the same thing. Planning on taking major losses on a product launch is a horrible business model and quickly kills any company that makes it a habit. If an up and coming project is set to incur major losses, you would hope the company would have enough common sense to pull it before it becomes a money pit to throw away money. I know MS is a big culprit of this bad philosophy as well. I would hope if I ever have a company of my own, I would release products that are set to make a profit on release or at worse incur a small loss the first few quarters. I guess that is why I dont have a successful company, Im missing something in the big picture.
Expected.
If they go with a multi-SKU approach (which they most likely will if you look at the PS3/Vita launches), this will definitely be the price range.
Chie Satonaka
Member
$399 would be a pretty good price. I won't be surprised at all if it's $499, though.
Where is that from? Even if you double the price of the highest chip ($6.07/chip) on that 2011 chart it only comes out to $194.24. I doubt that it is near double the 2011 price of the chips found in the 6970. My guess is that it is around $8 or less per chip.
Assuming Sony is going with Hynix.
In Q1'2011 the [H5GQ2H24MFR-R0C] was the top tier GDDR5 chip offered by Hynix.
Projectjustice
Banned
Sony should just shop at Newegg.com.
Except for that part where they said they're not going to be losing money at launch...
Xbox 360 was basically the same thing as PS4 at launch, and they lost buckets of money at $399. And that was 2005 dollars. Unless they plan on cutting something out, this going to be an expensive machine.
They said they won't be taking a major loss. They will still be taking a loss, it just won't be on the level that the PS3 was.
Four_Chamber
Member
People are seriously thinking $399? No chance in hell. This thing will be $450 minimum. If they are already saying they are not going to take losses this thing will be ~$500.
ThisWreckage
Banned
First of all, you have no basis for your claims. We don't know if the Playstation camera will be in every console, for one. That would increase the price by quite a bit. We don't know how much money it costs to make the new controller. We do know, however, that Blu Ray technology is cheaper. We do know that this thing isn't going to have the ultra expensive Cell processor in it. We do know that they're using cheaper, off the shelf parts. So there is no indication that this console is going to approach 500 dollars. This console has a much better chance of being closer to 399 than it does 499.
smokeandmirrors
Banned
Yep. RAM gets cheap fast especially at bulk prices. manufacturers couldn't keep up speed wise with processors, so they worked on making it cheap so you could throw tons of it in systems to negate speed issues between [processor <- cache <-main memory]
mysteriousmage09
Member
$400 stand alone console and $500 for a bundle (console, maybe bigger HDD, 6 month or year sub to PS Plus and a game).
So the custom AMD CPU/GPU is off the shelf? It certainly won't total anywhere near the PS3 because R&D costs there were stupid as all hell and it showed. The tech here is still custom and upfront will cost a bit for Sony for the first 1-2 year but they'll fall much quicker. The fact is both systems will be priced higher than a lot of people will like because its typically the gaming side that buys at and close to launch. Both the PS3 and 360 are thriving 7 and 8 years respectively into their lifetime which is insane in console gaming. The statement however leads me to believe they will avoid the $599.99 but it won't be below $449.99 to make sure they are only losing a little per console while dropping the price of the PS3 again.
Again Yoshida said this after the reveal:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/21/sony-flexible-on-playstation-4-cost
ThisWreckage
Banned
I guarantee you they'll take a loss in the NA market and price the PS4 slightly higher in the European and Asian markets to get back that money. The true money is made in software and they know that.
mysteriousmage09
Member
The PS3 was some ridiculous $900 something to produce so even at $600....god damn. Cell and Blu Ray were a real bitch in the cost department.
PuppetMaster
Member
$399 sounds right to me.
ThisWreckage
Banned
Exactly. And people really should look at the Vita and its pricing to get a good idea. When the Vita was announced countless people on GAF said it would be 300-400 dollars because of the tech and the screen. A few people thought that it might cost more than that. And then Sony comes out and announce their price point any everyone is shocked. Like I said earlier, I expect two SKUs and neither of them will surpass 499.99.
Dark_AnNiaLatOr
Member
I can't wait. In just one month, the price will surely be revealed, and I'll click the confirm your order button on Amazon. Can't wait for that feeling.