Don’t think many here are surprised, though I distinctly remember this thread last year:
The people are speaking!
Wouldn’t Sony have lost more money if they’d sold more PS3’s? (assuming the same dismal attach rate they’ve had so far?)
On the plus side, at least they had a profit to be falling from.
No, the manufacture of the consoles is an unrecoupable cost at this point. The money’s been spent, so each one sold is just another $5/600 in revenue for Sony.
That’s only true if they aren’t producing more. If they have to produce more to meet demand, then yes, they’ll continue losing more money as they sell more.
Sony Henchman: Sir, our market penetration is weak. And flaccid!
Sony Executive: That’s it. We’ll need to activate a sleeper cell sooner than anticipated.
Sony Henchman: Which one, sir?
Sony Executive: Codename: S.O.L.D.I.E.R.
Sony Henchman: I’ll get Square-Enix on the phone right away, sir.
Seriously though, it looks like we’re going to find out soon enough if “FANBOYS” is a sound strategy in the video game console business.
If you’re talking long-term sure, that does apply to one extent or another. For the quarter being reported (“the three months [ending] December 31st.”) I think it’s safe to assume that Sony was manufacturing PS3s at capacity, and so the two variables (consoles manufactured and consoles sold) are independent of one another. As such selling more consoles would only improve their bottom line.