PS3 volume production set to begin... so, price drop?
by Nick Doerr 
{ Apr 11th 2007 at 4:30PM }
Foxconn (makers of the popular fragrance FoxDie) have recently announced that they, along with/in association with Hon Hai Precision Industry will be spearheading the Sony initiative of "volume production" of the PlayStation 3. Foxconn is going to start up their volume production in the second half of the year to prepare for the holiday season and will distribute based on demand or something. Lots of consoles real quick, basically.Is volume production necessary? There are a few things that come to mind when thinking about the concept behind it. Volume production is undoubtedly cheaper from a manufacturing standpoint -- plus Sony has been working daily on ways to lower manufacturing costs. Sure, people may argue "well $ony deosnt need to maek so many consoles since their all on shelfs still!1one!" but that may not necessarily be the reasoning behind a mass production initiative. Everything is pointing towards "lower cost" for Sony. Getting as many systems as possible out there will mean those costs are sunk -- the systems are out. What we're trying to get at is this: a price drop this holiday season. It makes sense, don't you think?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Colin @ Apr 11th 2007 5:15PM
Hahah, FoxDie.
Nice Metal Gear Solid reference. ;)
-Colin
Nick @ Apr 11th 2007 5:24PM
moving towards volume production has nothign to due with cutting the sell price of the PS3. As much as I wouls love to see a price drop, it's not going to happen till at least Christmas 2008. There's no reason for the price drop since the PS3 is tracking about the same as the PS2 was at launch. Everyone wants the PS3 to surpass the 360 in units as fast as possible, but lets face the facts, it's goign to take a few years to catch up.
SONY is in need to make a profit off the PS3 since gaming accounts for a huge portion of their opperating costs.
Tyler @ Apr 11th 2007 5:29PM
I wonder if we'll see a drastic rise in PS3 sales with a price cut like we did for the PSP..
If they lower it to 499.99 USD (a slightly bigger drop than the PSP percentage wise..) I'm sure people who were previously sitting on the side lines will jump on board. Not to mention big name exclusives will be coming out soon by then
Sonyguy @ Apr 11th 2007 5:38PM
Nick would you please stop posting stuff about price drops every other day. I am sick of hearing about it everytime anything is mentioned about production it always has to be "Does this mean a price drop??? huh?? does it??" They wont drop the price until they are at least making a profit which is a ways off.
shase @ Apr 11th 2007 5:33PM
I think Sony will drop the price when MS does. MS will most likely do it in the holiday season and they are in a position to. If Sony does it first MS will follow suit to be "parity (moore calls it..)". If MS does it Sony will just so those people "waiting by the fence" will not leave for a cheaper 360. Regardless for me I dont care for 360 since there are no games on it i wanna play
Geoff Gibson @ Apr 11th 2007 6:08PM
This is a bit off-topic, but it kinda seems Nick is the only person who ever reports anything on PS3fanboy.com anymore. Not to say he is a bad reporter, but didn't they have a whole job application thing weeks ago? I rarely ever see anybody else other than Ed and Andrew and their own blogs are few and far between in comparison.
pete @ Apr 11th 2007 6:42PM
give the man some breathing room here. he's reporting the news and interpreting it thru his eyes. we read it and make our own opinions. thats that. and yeah he is posting up a storm look to the right of the page
PS3 Fanboy bloggers (30 days)
# Blogger Posts Cmts
1 Nick Doerr 178 0
2 Ed Stasick 57 4
3 Andrew Yoon 14 1
it be nice to get a new perspective though from time to time
sam-evans @ Apr 11th 2007 6:44PM
@6
"They wont drop the price until they are at least making a profit which is a ways off."
I wouldn't be so sure on that, Sony need to get as many consoles out there so they can start making money off games, more consoles out = more games brought by consumers, more games brought = more money.
So a price cut may come early, if the PS3 doesn't meet sales expectations. As far as I can see its going well.
3,000,000 PS3 sold in 4 Months (With a Delayed Release)
6,000,000 Wii Sold in 4 Months (Approx)
10 Xbox 360 sold in 16 Months (Approx)
So, lets say they were all out for the same amount of time (15 months) [Estimate]
12,000,000 PS3 in 16 Months
24,000,000 Wii in 16 Months
10,000,000 360 in 16 Months
Hm... Microsoft's sales don't look so impressive any more. And so far, the PS3 has only had a few very good titles, so we can expect the sales rate to rise even more when all the games start coming soon.
Cage @ Apr 11th 2007 8:06PM
1. sam-evans...uh...Halo 3. I think that will boost sales just a little. THERE IS NO GAME SONY CAN RELEASE THAT WILL SALE AS MANY UNITS HALO WILL SALE IN THE US.
2. shase...you only play Motorstorm and God of War 2 (a ps2 game)? Talk about not broadening your horizons...
3. There is no possible way for a price cut. Shareholders would jump out at the very thought. Shareholders want their returns as soon as possible, not 5 years off...
4. Enjoying Live Arcade. How is Sony doing on their project?
mccomber @ Apr 12th 2007 11:09AM
We can't compare this entirely to the ps2 because of the simple fact that the ps2 was facing the dreamcast when it launched, and it wasn't exactly the same competition as the 360 is.
What it comes down to is that if Sony cuts the price of the 60gb down to where the 20gb was, all of a sudden it's sitting right next to MS's elite unit, with a whole lot more to offer overall. Just because price cuts don't traditionally happen that quickly doesn't mean they won't this time. A $500 ps3 this September, along with all those games that supposed to launch, would mean big holiday sales pure and simple.
John @ Apr 13th 2007 12:11AM
Geoff-- Nick is the PS3 mascot!
I can't stand Ed's writing. He always puts some goofy cynical spin on things, and his writing is lifeless. There are other good writers on Joystiq, but I never enjoy it when Ed's on here, it's like the guy who the party always moves away from.
Also consider, sheesh, it takes a while to go through all those apps, they're not going to put those guys up here, so quick. I would expect it by May-June, and they better be good!