Sony PlayStation 3 today costs less than half of what it cost when it was launched - prices have come down from $840 (approx. Rs 40,500) to $445 (approx. Rs 21,500). According to iSuppli analysts, since the price of the device has come down significantly, it might take Sony to break-even point. Even the number of parts has come down, from 4048 to 2820.

In 2006, Sony sold PlayStation 3 costing $840 for $600 and another model costing $805 for $500. Thus, Sony has incurred a loss on every console sold thus far. Today, the cost of building the PS3 console is $448.73, which is sold for $400..

Sony has reduced the size of the cell processor and the GPU die, and the number of parts. The company has combined two or more chips into one or integrated low level chips into the console. Even the price of the main chips such as the cell processor and the Nvidia Reality Synthesizer has gone down. Also, size reduction has helped in reducing power consumption and in improving cooling in the bottom model.

Smaller chips consume less power. Hence, the console now being smaller becomes a bit cheaper and slightly greener in nature. As per iSuppli analysts and as reported by BusinessWeek, Sony will achieve break-even point between cost and sales in 2009. Eventually, in late 2009, Sony might start making profits on every PS3 console sold.

Sony had recently slashed PS3 prices in India by Rs. 2000, and the console now costs Rs. 22,990.