PS3 Costs Sony $800?

Engadget is reporting that a bill of materials (BOM) written up by Merrill Lynch shows that Sony’s PlayStation 3 costs a whopping $800 to produce.

Of course, it’s been known that Microsoft and others will sell consoles at a loss and make back the money on the games. However, considering that Xbox 360 systems are going for $600 and over, the price to play games these days are climbing ever higher.

Interestingly, the BOM lists that Blu-ray will cost Sony $350…

DailyTech - PS3 Costs Sony $800?

$800 per unit? Doesn’t sound unreasonable considering what Sony’s trying to get under cram under the hood of this thing; Lynch calls it an "expensive and difficult-to-manufacture product" because of the Cell processor and Blu-ray drive, which account for the lion’s share of the backend parts costs (see above). Granted, most of this analysis comes off as estimation and prediction, but we’d like to make a prediction of our own: the PS3? She’s like Kutaragi’s Spruce Goose. Oh she’ll fly alright, but at what cost?

Engadget - PlayStation 3 costs $800, sez Merrill Lynch mob