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Marcus Yam (Blog) - September 17, 2007 7:30 PM

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25 comment(s) - last by murphyslabrat.. on Sep 27 at 3:53 PM

Sony enlists Chinese manufacturing to make low-cost PS3

As part of a continuing effort to reduce the cost and selling price of the PlayStation 3, Sony will tap an additional manufacturing partner to make the hardware of its latest console.

Sony recently enlisted the help of Hon Hai Precision Industry, perhaps better known as Foxconn, to produce lower-cost PlayStation 3 consoles, according to EMSNow.

Since the launch of the PlayStation 3 during November 2006, Sony relied on ASUSTek as the main manufacturer of its console hardware.

Producing the PlayStation 3 may be a new experience for Foxconn, but it is no stranger to making consoles for Sony. Foxconn currently produces PlayStation 2 consoles, which continues to sell in greater numbers than the PS3.

Foxconn also manufactures Xbox 360 components for Microsoft and Wii parts for Nintendo.

Although Sony is tightlipped on its pricing plans for the PlayStation 3, analysts are expecting the current $599 80GB console to drop to $499 once supplies of the 60GB machine are completely depleted.

Furthermore, according to an Internet report, Sony will not only drop the 80GB machine down $100 to $499, but it will also introduce a new entry-level 40GB offering that will come in at another $100 less at $399 – just $50 more than Microsoft’s 20GB Xbox 360.

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Foxconn is a Taiwanese company...

By j@cko on 9/17/2007 7:48:26 PM , Rating: 5

Have you been brain-washed by Chinese government?

RE: Foxconn is a Taiwanese company...

By MatthewAC on 9/17/2007 7:55:15 PM , Rating: 1

OMG linksys router filters are changing DT, NOOOOOOO!

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RE: Foxconn is a Taiwanese company...

By Anh Huynh on 9/17/2007 7:57:19 PM , Rating: 2

My apologies, I missed it. It's fixed.

Foxconn is a Taiwanese company, but majority of their manufacturing is done in China.

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RE: Foxconn is a Taiwanese company...

By Schadenfroh on 9/17/2007 8:05:31 PM , Rating: 5

Well, Taiwan is The Republic of China.

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RE: Foxconn is a Taiwanese company...

By Schadenfroh on 9/17/2007 8:06:16 PM , Rating: 2

Forgot the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China

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RE: Foxconn is a Taiwanese company...

By j@cko on 9/17/2007 8:39:37 PM , Rating: 2

Ya, true, but Twnese people identify themselves as Taiwanese and no body in Taiwan calls him/herself a Chinese. The TWnese government is also moving toward getting rid of "China" in its name. But, it's alright, this topic is up to debate. No need to start a political discussion war here. Either Chinese or Taiwanese company is fine.

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RE: Foxconn is a Taiwanese company...

By ryedizzel on 9/17/2007 9:13:33 PM , Rating: 2

I like Chinese food better than Tiawanese.

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RE: Foxconn is a Taiwanese company...

By pyr0m on 9/18/2007 2:00:20 AM , Rating: 2

You do realize that there are several hundred varieties in 5 main categories of Chinese food?

I do agree with your post, but it was somewhat off topic.

Personally, I prefer Sichuan food (the spicy stuff).

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RE: Foxconn is a Taiwanese company...

By animedude on 9/18/2007 7:19:49 PM , Rating: 2

It is a 50%/50% split. Half wants to go back to China, and half wants to go independent. Taiwan doesn't dare to go independent and besides, China is bribing the international community.

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Sony adding Foxconn

By AmberClad on 9/17/2007 9:12:18 PM , Rating: 2

Is Sony really selling so many PS3s that they need to enlist Foxconn to help out ASUS with their production capacity? It was my understanding (and I think it's also mentioned in the article), that the older PS2 is still outselling the PS3.

RE: Sony adding Foxconn

By daftrok on 9/17/2007 9:27:55 PM , Rating: 2

You do realize that the PS2 is and has been in mass production in China for quite some time. In less than a year they have made millions of PS3s and cutting costs by working with Foxconn is the 2nd smartest move they made (1st being putting Blu-ray on the PS3). This will dramatically cut down production costs (and statistically speaking marginally increase the defective rate, something that is inevitable in mass production), bring forth a price cut sooner, and have more developer support giving better looking games and more online content. Its win-win-win all around.

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RE: Sony adding Foxconn

By uglyone888 on 9/17/2007 9:59:42 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
cutting costs by working with Foxconn is the 2nd smartest move they made (1st being putting Blu-ray on the PS3).

How is putting Blu-Ray in the PS3 a smart move? Sure Sony is backing its own format even more and it helps them sway the statistics for the sale of Blu-Ray players, but what happens if Blu-Ray loses the format war? Then will their entire console be rendered obsolete? Not only that, but the Blu-Ray drive is one of the reasons that it is expensive and therefore it is one of the drawbacks to the console.

I think Microsoft was smart when the decided to add their HD-DVD drive as a peripheral, that way if HD-DVD fails or loses, then Microsoft just loses the money they put into an add-on (which is where they make most of their money anyway)for the 360 and it is not part of the hardware so they don't lose even more money on development costs.

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RE: Sony adding Foxconn

By Torched on 9/18/2007 4:26:08 PM , Rating: 2

The console will NOT be obsolete since all the games are Blu-Ray. It would be obsolete if BD playback was its only function.

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RE: Sony adding Foxconn

By uglyone888 on 9/17/2007 9:59:49 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
cutting costs by working with Foxconn is the 2nd smartest move they made (1st being putting Blu-ray on the PS3).

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RE: Sony adding Foxconn

By daftrok on 9/17/2007 10:37:33 PM , Rating: 2

I didn't mean in the movie sense I meant in the storage sense. Meaning, you won't need multiple discs to run games and due to its massive storage you can place multiple languages in one disc, saving region strains. I'm just talking about Blu-ray in the game sense. Either way Blu-ray has sold more than HD DVD anyways so they're not exactly losing anything.

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RE: Sony adding Foxconn

By jak3676 on 9/17/2007 11:00:21 PM , Rating: 2

I don't think Sony putting blue-ray in the PS3 had much to do with the advantage it gives to the gamer much at all. That's only an added benifit in the bigger picture (IMHO).

With Sony adding blue-ray to the PS3 they effectivly fired the only effective counter measure they had to HD's earlier entry. If the PS3 did not have blu-ray I think the format war battle would be almost over - the PS3 continues to be the the most common blue-ray player out there (generally the cheapest also).

In the big picture, the format war means more to Sony than the PS3 ever will. MS successfully headged their bet, but they aren't making any effective impact on the format war at all.

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RE: Sony adding Foxconn

By Chaser on 9/18/2007 7:53:25 AM , Rating: 2

Unlike the add on movie viewer M$ cooked up for the 360 the Blue Ray player on the PS3 is used for gaming content along with its (40?)60-80GB hard drive.

The two aren't anywhere near equal. The HD DVD add on was a "Well we have one two" move that delivers zero for gaming purposes. And some models of the 360 don't even have a hard drive. Wow.

So the "format wars" in terms of PS3 gaming aren't really a factor. But any notion that an HD DVD "win" would render the PS3 useless -although perhaps the desire of some of the contributors and columnists on this site- is comical at best.

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RE: Sony adding Foxconn

By Zoomer on 9/18/2007 1:29:59 PM , Rating: 2

You have to consider the japanese market. They don't want, and in many cases, don't have space for a gazillion add-ons.

Bedides, they wanted to push blu-ray.

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RE: Sony adding Foxconn

By SmokeRngs on 9/18/2007 3:34:57 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Is Sony really selling so many PS3s that they need to enlist Foxconn to help out ASUS with their production capacity?

I doubt it's a problem of production capacity as much as differentiating the products. From the article, I infer that Asus will continue to make the 80 gig PS3s while Foxconn will make the 40 gig. If the price differential between the two models is correct, then it's likely there will be changes other than just a smaller hard drive.

My guess would be that the hardware included in the 40 gig will be different (not as many features) as the 80 gig. This would possibly require a redesign of the motherboard inside. Foxconn could be producing the changed hardware itself. Obviously this is nothing but speculation.

Since it's likely Foxconn has cheaper prices for manufacturing than Asus, that could also be part of the price differential between the two models. Since it costs Sony less to have them produced, the price difference wouldn't be as damaging.

I still think there will be some type of hardware missing in the 40 gig version. Sony already had the 20 gig version and dropped it since a lot more money was being lost on that model. I don't see a new version of that model coming out without some type of reductions to the manufacture price.

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Bad comparison

By h0kiez on 9/18/2007 9:35:43 AM , Rating: 3

quote:
$100 less at $399 – just $50 more than Microsoft’s 20GB Xbox 360.

To me, it doesn't make sense to compare Sony's potential future price after a cut to today's 360 price...especially since we all know that a PS3 at $399 would make MS very uncomfortable...probably uncomfortable enough for the 360 to get its own price cut.

At the end of the day, both consoles will probably get another pricing haircut before the holidays. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Microsoft get a core unti down to $249 to better compete with the Wii and the premium for $299 to continue to differentiate the price from the PS3 at $399.

RE: Bad comparison

By murphyslabrat on 9/18/07, Rating: 0

RE: Bad comparison

By enlil242 on 9/18/2007 11:22:44 AM , Rating: 2

Yeah, I must be an idiot as I'd rather have a system that has games! Not one that would look shiny in my entertainment center... At least the xbox has shown that they stand by it's hardware with the extended warranty. I feel better knowing I can play games today (and better performing cross platform ones) instead of having expensive, unused equipment laying around. Besides, when I am ready to by a ps3, it just might be $249! ;-)

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RE: Bad comparison

By murphyslabrat on 9/27/2007 3:53:33 PM , Rating: 2

I still think it's idiotic to pay more than $300 for a system that can only be used to play games. Sure, you can add an HD-DVD player to an X-Box, but that's extra. Call me naive, but the way the entertainment industry in America is, it comes as no surprise that companies want to pay cheaper labor than Americans. Think about it, as American workers demand enough money to have a 60-inch HD-TV, an X-Box 360 ultra, a combo Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player, a ferrari, and a mansion, and whatever other absurdly expensive thing you can think of having, the guy wanting just enough to live on starts to look viable.

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Scouring the net...

By ZavyZavy on 9/18/2007 1:56:36 AM , Rating: 2

I read about this months back... I'm looking for the article now but can’t find it.

Anyway, I was under the impression that Foxconn was already making the PS3 units.

Sony Sources Foxconn to Help Manufacture PS3

By SaySomeThingOrDIE on 9/19/2007 12:46:10 PM , Rating: 2

"Sony enlists Chinese manufacturing to make low-cost PS3"
There is no bias in this statement, although, most Taiwanese(who still speak the Taiwanese language) still don't consider themselves to be Chinese.
Foxconn is definitely a Taiwanese manufactory company. Which means good quality hardward at a cheaper price. I find most Taiwanese products are near equal quality as Japan and US. ...Although, most companies have their products "made in china," it is those certain reliable companies that produce a safer product.
As for the price drop, I read from Japan Tech News, Sony will completely drop the EE chip from all their next manufactor versions of PS3. By SmokeRngs on 9/18/2007 3:34:57 PM , Rating: 2 posting is on the mark. ...