Hirai: PS3 Slim sold at a loss, but business profitable overall
Speaking to the UK's Times Online during last week's GamesCom event, Sony boss Kaz Hirai provided some insight into the ramifications following the introduction of the smaller, cheaper PS3 Slim. Hirai noted that while the system itself would be sold at a loss, it would be buoyed by other elements of the PlayStation platform.
"If you look at the growth of the installed base, it is slower than the PS2 was but it's pretty much on track with the growth that we had with the original PlayStation," Hirai said. Responding to the issue of selling the redesigned PS3 at a loss, Hirai explained, "I don't actually know that that's the true nature of the business that we're all in, whether it's PlayStation, Xbox or the Wii. I think the better indicator is to look at the business as a whole platform, to ask: are you profitable in terms of the hardware, software and peripherals. And the answer to that question is yes on a gross profit level since the last fiscal year."
If Sony's price-cutting measures have their intended effect and lift the whole PlayStation platform, Hirai might just be in a position next year to boast about profits so plentiful ... it's gross.
[Via Edge]
