You might want to hold off on buying that PlayStation 3 …


… because Sony has revealed that manufacturing costs for its console have dropped by 70 per cent. Can you say “price cut”? Here’s Sony Corp CEO and executive vee-pee Nobuyuki Oneda:

“The cost reduction since we introduced the PS3 is very substantial and this is on schedule. 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. [The deduction] is about 70 per cent, roughly speaking.”

Fortunately for Baldrick-esque simpletons like me, GamesIndustry.biz did the math on this, and guessed that this drop meant Sony was now building the things for quite a bit less than the retail price:

“In January 2008, reports indicated that manufacturing costs had been reduced by 50 per cent to around $400 (£243). A further 70 per cent drop on this figure would suggest costs now sit at around $240 (£146) per unit.”

So what does all this mean for you and I, the bewildered consumer? Well, although we’ve yet to see much of the savings from reduced manufacturing costs passed on to customers, we can probably confidently speculate that a price snip is just around the corner for the hardware. Hell, as the priciest home console out there, it’s certainly due one.

Wonder if they removed the grill feature to cut costs?

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