Sony’s PlayStation 4 costs $381 to build?

[KongRudi]

I'd assume.. no.

There's almost no way either console does standard multi-tasking like that. Would be obnoxious.

Would you mind trying?
It might freeze and suspend the browser, like you say - I just figured it might work - since it works great doing the same with media-player on the vita, and I think the memory-budget for the browser is in the OS-section, not game-section, like Vita's media-player.
Havn't tried doing the same on Vita tough, just did the media-player stuff there.
On Vita some games automatically mute the soundtrack, and others you'll have to manually mute soundtrack in options. Sound effects play over, unless you mute them aswell.

 

[BunzHoles]

KongRudi : I can give it a try, but I seriously doubt it was designed like that.

Does the browser work that way on Vita?

Media players leaving the sound on when you leave the UI is standard practice across all smart phones as well.. that's the type of support I'd expect from PS4/XBO.. very specific apps coded to use the "media service" on the console will work.

 

[KongRudi]

BunzHolesNot sure if the browser run realtime in background, the Vita have much less memory than PS4 and XB1 tough. :-/

 

[starseeker]

Because you have to factor in other things such as shipping, packaging, labeling, printing, etc. And I won't even touch on the millions spent on advertising and the multimillions spent on R&D because those don't come along with the console itself.

As well as yield, also, they do not sell to retailers at selling price. I will be surprise if they sold to retailer anything above $350.

 

[Hissatsu]

Didn't Sony say sometime during the summer that they were going to lose about $60 per console? or something like that. Given all the other costs associated with the console the estimated unit cost is at least believable if Sony was indeed losing $60 per unit.

I remember something like this too.

 

[Kassen]

So the Apple Air costs 275 to make? How does retail make any money from that?

 

[starseeker]

Only if you hire an intern to put it all together.

You are being sarcastic right, after the foxconn news.

But to be honest, I have heard of companies in China as well as Taiwan, using intern students as cheap labors, from my Taiwanese friend.

 

[consolewarz]

Apparently Sony Pictures recent movies bombed. They're looking at making cuts to that division, it has nothing to do with Playstation. But hey, it's misleadingly negative news so why not post it? Rollins regularly posts misterx's crap to this forum, after all.

Maybe if PS3's early years weren't so bad they could have gone for a greater initial loss on PS4. Unfortunately they couldn't be that risky this time around and we got a budget mid-range PC instead of cutting edge tech.

 

[TDbank24]

Not bad. Sony won't make much of a profit on the PS4 for awhile but they've laid the groundwork for the future. They're already in a much better position with the PS4 than they ever were with the PS3.

 

[BunzHoles]

BunzHolesNot sure if the browser run realtime in background, the Vita have much less memory than PS4 and XB1 tough. :-/

Well my initial test was me spending several minutes trying to track down a single site that wasn't Flash. lol.. Flash based players don't work.

Found some HTML 5 players.. also didn't work.

Eventually found an HTML 5 video site with a sample video.. it played, and the audio continued working when I jumped back to the menu.. but as soon as I launched the PSN store the audio stopped. I don't have any games on that PS4 and my fiance is playing Need for Speed on the other one, but if I had to guess.. I'd guess this idea won't work.

I'll do a final test later.

 

[Hammerclaw]

This a pretty good read about Sony/PS4 financial situation. It's not all bad. They've had a phenomenal increase in software sales over this time last year. http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2013/10/31/sony-financials/

 

[Tazz3]

People buying games and ps plus Sony will break even

 

[BDaddyK]

Only if you hire an intern to put it all together.

Exactly, "hire" some interns...

 

[Mr. Titan]

AllThingsD did a cost comparison of a PlayStation 4 tear down. It's going to be a while before Sony is making a profit on the sale of each console.

AllThingsD got an early look at the analysis, in which the firm estimates the cost of those parts, plus what it costs to assemble them, at $381. That is only $18 shy of the PS4′s $399 retail price, leaving Sony little profit margin on the sale of the device itself.​

How are they calculating the costs of these parts? Do they look at retail prices? Wholesale prices? Do they take into account the deep discounts Sony will likely receive for purchasing MILLIONS of parts at once?

Sony was quoted as saying if they aren't making a profit on every PS4 sold at launch, they will be shortly after. I assume they had R&D, marketing, labor, etc factored in as well when they made this comment.

No doubt their margins are slim, but that's a good thing for gamers, isn't it?

And if their console, due to it's power, becomes the platform of choice for third party games, they will more than make up for this loss with higher game sales.