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Isn't this the backbone of the entire console gaming industry though? Has there ever been a popular console that directly turned a profit through hardware sales

Isn't this the backbone of the entire console gaming industry though? Has there ever been a popular console that directly turned a profit through hardware sales? I was under the impression that basically the entire revenue stream comes from game licensing fees from publishers, with hardware as loss leaders across the board.

Tyr42 9y ago
Wii, and in general Nintendo consoles are not sold at a loss.
dcole2929 9y ago
Generally they are sold for a loss to begin with early in the generation. But later iterations usually make money. As a whole, successful consoles, usually can make money for the company producing them. That said both PS3 and Xbox 360 lost money for their respective companies. I believe the Wii and the PS2 however were great financial successes though.
- jedrek 9y ago
  Yeah, but the real money is in licensing.
hmschreck 9y ago
Up until the WiiU, Nintendo had sold, if memory serves, every console at a profit. The issue here is that it's being bought without games. They lose money on the tech, and then don't make it up on the licensing.
hkmurakami 9y ago
Iirc the Wii sold at a profit because it deliberately used older technology.
kabdib 9y ago
AFAIK, all of the recent consoles have been profit making on just the hardware alone. Not very much money per unit at first, but none of them shipped as a loss leader.
ifhd 9y ago
Wasn't nintendo making money on the Wii pretty much the entire time?
CaptSpify 9y ago
Weren't schools buying Playstations for a bit because they were cheaper than computers with similar specs? I swear that was a thing for a while, but I can't find any sources, so I might be mis-remembering
- xanderstrike 9y ago
  Schools and governments were buying up PS3 systems because they could be turned into cheap clusters. Sony didn't like this, as they were losing money on every PS3, so they disabled the functionality.

Tyr42 9y ago

Wii, and in general Nintendo consoles are not sold at a loss.

dcole2929 9y ago

Generally they are sold for a loss to begin with early in the generation. But later iterations usually make money. As a whole, successful consoles, usually can make money for the company producing them. That said both PS3 and Xbox 360 lost money for their respective companies. I believe the Wii and the PS2 however were great financial successes though.

jedrek 9y ago
Yeah, but the real money is in licensing.

hmschreck 9y ago

Up until the WiiU, Nintendo had sold, if memory serves, every console at a profit. The issue here is that it's being bought without games. They lose money on the tech, and then don't make it up on the licensing.

hkmurakami 9y ago

Iirc the Wii sold at a profit because it deliberately used older technology.

kabdib 9y ago

AFAIK, all of the recent consoles have been profit making on just the hardware alone. Not very much money per unit at first, but none of them shipped as a loss leader.

ifhd 9y ago

Wasn't nintendo making money on the Wii pretty much the entire time?

CaptSpify 9y ago

Weren't schools buying Playstations for a bit because they were cheaper than computers with similar specs? I swear that was a thing for a while, but I can't find any sources, so I might be mis-remembering

xanderstrike 9y ago
Schools and governments were buying up PS3 systems because they could be turned into cheap clusters. Sony didn't like this, as they were losing money on every PS3, so they disabled the functionality.