Operation Sports Forums - View Single Post - Sold separately, altogether disappointing

macnbc · 07-03-2005, 02:23 AM

The reason why Sony is considering (note CONSIDERING) dropping the hard drive at this point is cost.

The Xbox 360 is being manufactured with parts straight off the shelf, while the PS3 is being developed with state-of-the art custom-built components. This of course, comes with a price.

The end result is, Sony is already going to be taking a financial loss with the PS3, much like Microsoft is, and analysts say that the company will be absorbing a loss of about $75 a unit. Now, add a $100 hard drive to the price and Sony's left with three options:

1. Take an additional $100 hit per unit, which is unacceptable from a business standpoint, because then Sony will lose so much money on it that they will lose all hope of EVER making it back.
2. Raise the price of the PS3 another $100, when its already expected to be $100 than the XBox360, this is also unacceptable, because then people like everyone in these forums will be talking about how greedy Sony's being, without knowing the facts.
3. Make the hard drive optional.

Between those three options, the only one that Sony can take without kissing their market dominance goodbye is the third. It is still highly likely that even if Sony makes the HD optional, that there will be both a "Value pack" with HD, and a "bare bones" pack without HD available on the marketplace when it comes out.

This is simply giving the consumers a choice in the matter, which is always preferable to a mandatory price increase. The PS3 is a far far FAR superior system to the XBox360 as far as horsepower goes, but that power comes with a price.

07-03-2005, 02:23 AM	#11
macnbc Rookie OVR: 1 Join Date: Mar 2003	Re: Sold separately, altogether disappointing The reason why Sony is considering (note CONSIDERING) dropping the hard drive at this point is cost. The Xbox 360 is being manufactured with parts straight off the shelf, while the PS3 is being developed with state-of-the art custom-built components. This of course, comes with a price. The end result is, Sony is already going to be taking a financial loss with the PS3, much like Microsoft is, and analysts say that the company will be absorbing a loss of about $75 a unit. Now, add a $100 hard drive to the price and Sony's left with three options: 1. Take an additional $100 hit per unit, which is unacceptable from a business standpoint, because then Sony will lose so much money on it that they will lose all hope of EVER making it back. 2. Raise the price of the PS3 another $100, when its already expected to be $100 than the XBox360, this is also unacceptable, because then people like everyone in these forums will be talking about how greedy Sony's being, without knowing the facts. 3. Make the hard drive optional. Between those three options, the only one that Sony can take without kissing their market dominance goodbye is the third. It is still highly likely that even if Sony makes the HD optional, that there will be both a "Value pack" with HD, and a "bare bones" pack without HD available on the marketplace when it comes out. This is simply giving the consumers a choice in the matter, which is always preferable to a mandatory price increase. The PS3 is a far far FAR superior system to the XBox360 as far as horsepower goes, but that power comes with a price.