News Xbox 360 will make profit next year?

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/05/04/Xbox_will_make_profit_next_year/

 

They are already working on the successor? And people bashed Sony for pitching the idea of PS4 lol.

But no dout their accessories are making up a good portion of their profit, with the pricess most 360 add ons go for it's no wonder. I think introducing the elite might have pushed than back from hitting their target income and trying to get out of the black. I thought MS was already profitting, although very little from the 360 (it was either that or breaking even on cost to make vs current selling price).

 

They were probably working on it before the 360 came out. Its a perpetual cycle.

 

It'll already be in the very early stages of development. For example, Nvidia was already working on GeForce 8800 BEFORE GeForce 6800 was launched.

 

Lol, nice point Tim, shame ATI only started on the R600 last month...

I wonder how long it'll take for Sony to make the same announcement with the PS3...

 

New PS models were announced today actually. The new PS is in development as more of a media platform

 

[ontopic] But what exactly is he trying to tell us? They were smart enough to build a console actually able to make profit? They overprice their accessories to make profit? They overprice the games?

 

Do you have a press release or any details?

<A88>

 

So, is the Wii the only next-gen console to be making a profit at the moment? Something like $12 per console sold.

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=76038

Only rumours, hence no news article on it.

 

So basically MS is using their deep pockets to mangle yet another market? Why is anyone surprised?

L J

 

Well....360 may be the cheaper console to buy (in terms of just getting your hands on it), but Microsoft ain't making any money and that ain't good. I wonder if Sony is in the same boat in terms of really being in the red?, but then again how long has PS3 been out vs. 360? I bet the Elite did hurt them in terms of profit due to the R&D and marketing, etc. Also, Microsoft peripherals WOULD make them pure profit. I mean c'mon...a 20GB HD for $105 on Newgg for Christ's sake! Either way, I like hearing about the PS3 revision, but just like the article says, a firmware revision would probably take care of most of the add-on features needed to run it as more of a media server. Man more of that news makes me want to save up for one....., but then again the 65nm 360 v.2 is also knocking on my door so... who knows....

 

Sony isn't in as bad a boat as Microsoft, but Microsft's pockets are much deeper. MS absorbed the total losses of the original XBox (Which I don't believe EVER became profitable for them) and still went into development for the 360. Sony however is still raking in profits from the PS2 to offset PS3 losses.

 

Microsofts problem is the Japanese market. Breaking even in six years without touching japan is quite an achievement - the 360 has sold very very well after all. Sony has a massive headstart in Japan, yet Bill Gates has never really been able to crack it over there.

 

The only peripheral I have noticed that is overpriced is the wireless adapter at 100$(USD)
I bought the other 2 contoller for my system for 75$(USD).

 

You don't think $105 for a measily 20GB HD is overpriced?

The wireless network adaptor is also way too overpriced, but the 360 controllers on the other hand are totally worth their $35 price. I love the 360's controller even though my friend has had some major issues with the rechargable battery packs.....they feel so much more expensive than the cheap NyKO's or MadCatz they have demoed at Targets and they sure stay charged for a good while when they're fully charged....

 

IIRC, when the 360 first came out, the analysis of the controller said it was constructed from roughly $11 in parts.

So, while it may be "worth" $35 in terms of its functionality and what we're all used to paying for console controllers, it is in a sense overpriced in that there's potentially 200% profit built into each one.

Thats the problem with consoles -- they can get a pseudo-monopoly going and make prices artificially high. This convinces users that the price is fair since its what they've been seeing for 10 years. If, on the other hand, there were many manufacturers making controllers for the 360 (or the PS3 or Wii...or the original NES for that matter) and allowed to set their own price, prices would fall down around $15 or so. You might have to do a little homework to figure out which ones were cheap-o things made in sweatshops...but you'd be able to get a good controller for much cheaper than they sell for now.

Of course, then it'd take even longer for Microsoft to start making a profit on their consoles...and we'd have other problems to deal with.

 

I hear yah man. I know these companies overprice their products, but if people are willing to pay, then the prices will stay the same. I personally have bought many "off-brand" controllers for my PC and they have worked just as good as Logitech or Microsoft controllers that were double the cost. So again I understand where you're coming from, but again, you're paying for Microsoft's controller, not off-brand unknown manufacturer where the warranty would probably be 15 days and it would be impossible to contact them. Again, everyone has their own opinions and in the whole skeem of things I would rather spend more and make sure it worked the way I wanted it to.

 

I think the last cost estimate for building a PS3 I saw (some 3 months ago or so - its probably dropped a little now) was in the $850 range ? especially in japan (where Ken K dropped the price by another 20% below the normal price without telling the rest of the company, so I hear it) where they sell them for what $480 ish ? thats got to hurt, but theres little denying it will ultimately help the PS3's market share compared to selling them at cost or at a profit.

 

Bladestorm's numbers sound right based on what I've heard. I don't see how you could realistically expect Sony to be doing better than M$ with those kind of numbers... last I heard, Microsoft is actually making a profit on each 360 console sold now (though they still haven't broke even overall). In fact, Sony loses more money on each PS3 it sells than it costs Microsoft to even BUILD a 360.