Whilst most people agree that Sony should consider dropping the price of the PlayStation 3, it is also widely reported that the manufacturing cost always meant a high retail price was required for the company to make any profit whatsoever on the system.

So, what happens when the manufacturing cost is reduced by 70%?

“The cost reduction since we introduced the PS3 is very substantial and this is on schedule,” Nobuyuki Oneda, Sony Corp’s CEO and Executive Vice President, revealed during a conference call for overseas investors following Q1 09 financials. “We don’t disclose how much of the PS3, specifically the cost deduction was achieved during the past two years. But that is on schedule.”

“About 70%, roughly speaking,” Oneda-san added when pressed further on the issue that is currently hounding Sony at every turn.

The question is: will Sony drop the price of the PS3 at all? If this figure is correct, it’d seem rather likely that they could afford to drop the system’s price by 50% and still make more money than before! Yes, this is highly unlikely, although a mere 20-30% drop would represent a fantastic opportunity for any would-be buyers currently on the fence as to whether they will splash out on the machine.

Source: TVG