As blue-laser pick-up heads (PUHs) for use in the PlayStation 3 (PS3) are expected to increase in supply and decrease in price, the production cost of the game console could be reduced by as much as US$100, according to Taiwan-based makers of game consoles and components.
Sony Shiroishi Semiconductor, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony, on April 23 announced an expansion of its monthly production capacity of blue-violet laser diodes, a key component of HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc (BD) PUHs, to 1.7 million diodes as well as the beginning of volume production of 240mW (milliwatts) blue-violet laser diodes in November of 2007. This will greatly increase the supply of blue-laser PUHs at lower prices, the sources indicated, noting the reduction of costs could reach US$100.
Besides a potential drop in the production cost of the PS3, the production cost of the Xbox 360 (20GB hard drive version) has dropped to US$323.30 based on estimates by research firm iSuppli in the fourth quarter of 2006.
| PS3 and Xbox 360: Breakdown of production costs (US$) | ||
| Item | PS3 (60GB version) | Xbox 360 (20GB hard drive version) |
| Motherboard, CPU, graphics processor, chipset, etc. | 352 | 204 |
| Optical disc drive/player | 125 | 19.45 |
| Hard disc drive | 54 | 43 |
| Power supply | 37.50 | 25.50 |
| Bluetooth, 802.11 b/g network modules | 19.60 | N/A |
| Other components | 150.50 | N/A |
| Chassis and related | 61.75 | 25.25 |
| Assembly | 40 | 6.10 |
| Total cost | 840.35 | 323.30 |
| Retail price | 599 | 399 |
Source: iSuppli, November,2006, compiled by Digitimes, May 2007
