拆解后发现Sony在PS3上近乎不赚不赔

SANFRANCISCO—ThelatestincarnationofSonyCorp.'sPlayStation3reduceshardwareandmanufacturingcoststonearthebreakevenpointonthevideogameconsole,accordingtoateardownanalysisperformedbymarketresearchfirmiSuppliCorp.

Thenew120-GbyteharddiskdriveversionofthePS3,releasedinSeptember,carriesacombinedbillofmaterialsandmanufacturing/testcostof$336.27,accordingtoiSuppli.Atanewretailpriceof$299,thelatestversioncomesclosertobreakingeventhananypreviousversionoftheproduct,iSuppisaid.

"SincetheintroductionofthePlayStation3inlate2006,Sonyhassubsidizedthepriceofeveryconsolesold,adeficitthecompanyhasmadeupforwithgamesalesandroyalties,"saidAndrewRassweiler,directorandprincipalanalystofteardownservicesforiSuppli,inastatement.

RassweileraddedthatSonyhasaggressivelydesignedoutcostswitheachnewrevision.

Still,Sonyistakingalossof$31.27oneachsaleofthePS3intheU.S.,iSupplinoted.Butthefirm'steardownanalysisservicesdeterminedthethattheprevious-generationPS3soldfor$49.72lessthanitsmanufacturingandmaterialscost,basedonpricingfromOctober2008.

Nearprofitability'tippingpoint'

ISupplisaidtheU.S.priceforPS3likelyissomewhatlowerthanoverallworldwideaverage.Ongoingreductionsincomponentpricingwillcausethematerialscosttodeclinesignificantlyin2010,thefirmsaid.

"Inlightofthesefactors,thePlayStation3probablyisalreadyatornearthetippingpointforprofitability,"Rassweilersaid.

AccordingtoSony,440,000PlayStation3consolesweresoldintheU.S.duringthe"BlackFriday"weekofNov.29,arecordfortheproduct.

ThelatestgenerationPS3issignificantlyrevisedfrompreviousversions,accordingtoiSuppli.Themajorchangesinvolvetheuseoflessexpensivesemiconductors,ageneralredesignoftheproductandareductioninthenumberofcomponentsintheconsole,thefirmsaid.

Thenewversionemployschipsmanufacturedatthe65-and45-nmtechnologynodes,iSupplisaid.Itfeaturesapproximately2,568components,downfrom4,048intheoriginalversion,iSupplisaid.

TheNvidiaRealitySynthesizerremainsthemostexpensivechipinthePlayStation3,at$45.82,iSupplisaid.Butthat'sa21percentdeclinefromtheRealityEngineemployedinthepreviousversionofthePlayStation3hardware,basedonpricinginOctober2008,thefirmsaid.ISupplisaiditbelievesSonyisemployinga65-nmpart,comparedtothe90-nmpartusedintheinitialversionofthePlayStation3inOctober2006.