Blue laser diode costs down to US$ 8 each, could PS3 price cut be near?

Sony‘s already got a good supply of blue laser diodes, so we could probably expect them to step up PS3 production in the coming months. While that in itself is good news, here’s some more: blue laser diode costs have also gone down.

According to GameDaily, Sony “expects that starting this June blue-violet laser diodes will only cost 900 to 1,000 yen (meaning only a bit over US$ 8 per diode).” The entirety of the Blu-ray drive was estimated to cost around US$ 125 per unit, but as a new component, the blue laser diodes likely accounted for a pretty good chunk of the cost. Now that they’re down to around eight bucks each, could we be looking at a possible price cut for the PS3?

Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter thinks so. Speaking to GameDaily, Pachter said that yes sirree, it indeed means that Sony is “definitely in a position to cut price.” Please note the italics (which were in the quoted text), because when it comes to price cuts, we can’t be sure of anything just yet.

“God knows whether they will, but lower costs usually lead to lower prices,” continued Pachter. “The right question to ask is whether the full bill of materials is below US$ 499, allowing them to cut price and still avoid losing money. I’m not competent to answer whether it is, but I am competent to say that when cost is below US$ 499, we should look for a cut to that level.”

Via GameDaily

Sony‘s already got a good supply of blue laser diodes, so we could probably expect them to step up PS3 production in the coming months. While that in itself is good news, here’s some more: blue laser diode costs have also gone down.

According to GameDaily, Sony “expects that starting this June blue-violet laser diodes will only cost 900 to 1,000 yen (meaning only a bit over US$ 8 per diode).” The entirety of the Blu-ray drive was estimated to cost around US$ 125 per unit, but as a new component, the blue laser diodes likely accounted for a pretty good chunk of the cost. Now that they’re down to around eight bucks each, could we be looking at a possible price cut for the PS3?

Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter thinks so. Speaking to GameDaily, Pachter said that yes sirree, it indeed means that Sony is “definitely in a position to cut price.” Please note the italics (which were in the quoted text), because when it comes to price cuts, we can’t be sure of anything just yet.

“God knows whether they will, but lower costs usually lead to lower prices,” continued Pachter. “The right question to ask is whether the full bill of materials is below US$ 499, allowing them to cut price and still avoid losing money. I’m not competent to answer whether it is, but I am competent to say that when cost is below US$ 499, we should look for a cut to that level.”

Via GameDaily