According to Sony Japan’s recent earnings reports, interpreted by blogger Andria Sang, Sony is still taking a 10% loss on each PlayStation 3 sold.
Sony CFO Nobuyuki Oneda stated that the cost of producing a PS3 remains about 10% higher than its current price point in Japan. If he’s referring to its retail price point, that’s a loss of ¥4,000 JPY, or $42.09 USD, on each console. It appears that Hirai’s hopes of attaining profitability in the 2008 financial year did not come to fruition.
This news puts a damper on speculation that Sony will cut the price of the PS3 by as much as $100 USD as soon as this summer. Sony executives have continued to state that attaining PS3 profitability is an important goal for the company. Market share, however, is also a key focus.
If Sony is going to cut the price of the PS3 anytime soon, it will be at E3 2009. We’ll all have to wait until the event to know what Sony’s next move will be.