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> Most consoles are sold at a loss, with revenue being made up largely through title sales. This is only the case for when the console gets released. The hard
by monksy 4y ago
> Most consoles are sold at a loss, with revenue being made up largely through title sales.
This is only the case for when the console gets released. The hardware stays fixed through it's life span and the cost of old tech either gets more efficient, the manufacturing process becomes more efficient, or the parts get cheaper. (With exceptions to disasters that spike ram production or halt chip production)
Hardware Refreshes: I'm sure someone is going to mention that.
Those are pretty much entirely new console releases .. but you rarely ever get to take advantage of the new performance improvements.
- CamperBob2 4y agoI seriously doubt this. The most expensive parts like CPUs and GPUs don't get cheaper. Their pricing for the entire life cycle is most likely negotiated and locked in at design time, in fact. No one, not even Sony, can build PS5-class hardware and sell it at a profit for $500 at retail... not at launch time, and not on the last day of the product life cycle. Attach rate isn't everything in the console business, it's the only thing.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- squeaky-clean 4y agoPS4 units were profitable to sell after roughly a year https://www.polygon.com/platform/amp/2014/5/23/5744344/ps4-already-profitable-for-sony-ceo-says https://www.polygon.com/platform/amp/2014/5/23/5744344/ps4-a... > From a profitability perspective, PS4 is also already contributing profit on a hardware unit basis, establishing a very different business framework from that of previous platform businesses.
- somenameforme 4y agoThey've been selling them at profit since the middle of last year [1], following the trend set the previous gen of consoles making profit on hardware in less than a year. Things in gaming, both in terms of prices and how consoles approach the business, has changed quite radically in the past ~decade. [1] - https://www.pcmag.com/news/sony-says-499-ps5-no-longer-sells-at-a-loss https://www.pcmag.com/news/sony-says-499-ps5-no-longer-sells...
- shadilay 4y agoThis is completely false. They just did a die shrink to make the CPU/GPU cheaper. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/playstation-5-refresh-boasts-new-6nm-amd-oberon-plus-soc https://www.tomshardware.com/news/playstation-5-refresh-boas...