Last but not least, why are you only reporting this now? It's been around for about two weeks, furthermore you've surely realised that multiple sites have reported on this garbage so why add another this late in the game?
Sony’s PlayStation 3 game console may face delay as a result of difficulties with manufacturing of key components as well as high costs of materials, according to a report from Merrill Lynch research company. The firm suggests that initially the PlayStation 3 building cost will be as high as about $900.
Merrill Lynch analyst from Japan Hitoshi Kuriyama said that the company may not only delay the launch of the PlayStation 3 to cut down its losses, as it will not be able to sell its console for more than $400 - $500, but also limit the number of manufactured units. According to Mr. Kuriyama, there would be 2 – 3 million PlayStation 3 consoles available in 2006.
Currently Merrill Lynch assumes that 1.2 million PS3 game consoles will be sold in North America and 0.5 million in Europe in 2006 and 6 million in North America and 5 million in
“Sony’s decision to implement an ambitious new processor architecture – the Cell – not only took a great deal of design effort, but also has resulted in a processor that we think will cost Sony at least $230 per unit initially,” a report by Merrill Lynch states.
According to the research company, the most expensive component of the PlayStation 3 will be its Blu-ray disk drive, which will initially cost $350. The second most expensive part of the gaming machine will be the Cell processor which will cost Sony “at least” $230 per unit to make. Nvidia’s RSX graphics processor will cost $70, while for 256MB of XDR memory as well as 256MB of GDDR3 memory Sony will have to pay $50, believes Merrily Lynch. In total, the price may reach $900 just to manufacture one PlayStation 3 console.
In three years time after launch the cost of manufacturing the PS3 can reach $320, believes the research firm. Merrill Lynch notes that the price of two most expensive components – the Cell processor and the Blu-ray optical drive – can tumble significantly already in 2007 when the microprocessor is shifted to 65nm production technology, while the Blu-ray drives reaches high-volume manufacturing.
“There are additional reports that delays have surfaced on the Nvidia-designed RSX graphics processor,” the report also read.
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. did not comment on the news-story.





