Sony Eating $240-$300 On Each PS3

In the world of gaming, game companies almost never make any money off of the consoles themselves; the software and licensing contracts bring in the big bucks. It's extremely rare for a company to profit off the hardware at launch (like the Wii), but it's also extremely rare for a video game company to be losing $200+ on each console they sell. That's exactly what Sony is doing; according to iSuppli, the 20 GB PS3 costs $805.85 per unit to manufacture, while the 60 GB version costs $840.35. This translates to a $306.85 and a $241.35 loss for each 20 GB and 60 GB PS3 console sold. By comparison, the Xbox 360, one year after its launch, nets a $75 profit for each console sold. While the NVIDIA GPU, Cell CPU, and Blu-ray disc player combine to create a very impressive piece of hardware, maybe throwing all these ultra-expensive components in one box wasn't such a good idea. We'll just have to wait and see how bad a mistake this was for Sony.

[via iSuppli]