History
Sony officially unveiled the PlayStation 3 to the public on May 16, 2005, during the E3 2005 conference. A functional version of the system was not present there, as a working system was not readily available due to power failures and hardware problems, nor at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2005, although demonstrations (such as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots) were held at both events on devkits and comparable PC hardware. Video footage based on the predicted PlayStation 3 specifications was also shown (e.g. Mobile Suit Gundam).
The system was initially planned to have two HDMI ports, three Ethernet ports and six USB ports, though at E3 2006 this was later reduced to one HDMI port, one ethernet port and four USB ports, presumably to cut costs.Also announced were two configurations of the console, a 60GB and 20GB, for $599/€599 and $499/€499 respectively. The 60GB would be the only configuration to feature a HDMI port, Wifi and a chrome trim with the logo in silver. It was announced for a global release date, November 11th for Japan and November 17th for North America and Europe.
On September 6, 2006, Sony announced that the PAL region (Europe and Oceania) PlayStation 3 launch had been delayed until March 2007, due to a shortage of diodes used in the Blu-ray Disc drive.
On September 22, 2006, at the 2006 Tokyo Game Show, Sony announced that it would be including HDMI on the 20GB system with a silver logo, but not the chrome trim or Wifi. Also, the launch price of the Japanese 20GB models would be reduced the by over 20%;the 60 GB version of the system was announced for an open pricing scheme in Japan.During the show, Sony demonstrated 27 playable PS3 titles running on final hardware.
Launch
The PlayStation 3 was first released in Japan on November 11, 2006, at 07:00. There were reports that many of the systems were obtained by businessmen who paid mainly Chinese nationals to buy the systems without any problems to resell on eBay. According to Media Create, 81,639 PS3 systems were sold within 24 hours of its introduction in Japan.
Soon after its release in Japan, the PS3 was released in North America on November 17, 2006. Reports of violence surrounding the release of the PS3 include a customer shot,campers robbed at gunpoint, customers shot in a drive-by shooting with BB guns, and 60 campers fighting over 10 systems.
On January 24, 2007, Sony announced that the PlayStation 3 would go on sale on March 23, 2007 in Europe, Australia, the Middle East, Africa and New Zealand. On March 7, 2007, the 60 GB PlayStation 3 launched in Singapore with a price of S$799.
The PS3 was launched in Europe, Australia and New Zealand on March 23, 2007. After the first two days of sales, the system had sold approximately 600,000 units.
On April 27, 2007, the 60 GB PlayStation 3 launched in India and Pakistan, priced at Rs39,990/$869, however smuggled components were available as early as December 2006, and were easily sold around $1,500. Games cost about US$60.80. In Pakistan, the PlayStation 3 costs Rp. 30,000 ($500).
On May 21, 2007, Sony announced that the 80 GB PlayStation 3 would be launched in South Korea on June 16, 2007,in one configuration featuring an 80 GB hard drive.This was the first time the PlayStation 3 had been released with a 80 GB hard disk, and it was speculated that the larger-capacity hard drive may be to accommodate IPTV applications,such as the set-top box functionality for Korea Telecom's MegaTV service set for launch in November 2007.South Korea is one of four regions with the 80 GB PlayStation 3 model (North America, Singapore, and Mexico being the others).
In 2007, the 20 GB and 60 GB PlayStation 3 models were launched in Mexico. The 80 GB model bundled with Formula One Championship Edition is now on sale in Mexico for MXN$9,999.Local PS3 game standard price is MXN$8,999.
On June 16, 2007, the 80 GB PlayStation 3 model launched in South Korea. On August 6, 2007, the 80 GB PlayStation 3 model was released in North America, bundled with MotorStorm. On September 2007, the 80 GB PlayStation 3 model was released in Singapore.
Retail configurations
As of October 2007, there have been four PlayStation 3 hardware models announced: a "20 GB" model, a "60 GB" model, a "80 GB" model, and a "40 GB" model (the "xx GB" names referring to the size of the internal hard drive of the system). All retail packages include one or two SIXAXIS controllers, one USB cable, one composite video/stereo audio output cable, one ethernet cable and one power cable.
On April 11, 2007, Sony discontinued the 20 GB PlayStation 3 model in North America, citing "lack of consumer demand",Although the 20 GB model is still on sale in Japan. Many suggest that the removal of the 20 GB model in North America was probably made to save with manufacturing costs, as there is a difference in cost between the two models of around $30.
In June 2007, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) president David Reeves stated that there were no plans for the 80 GB PlayStation 3 model to be released in the PAL regions, and that a 20 GB PS3 model for PAL regions is "highly unlikely".
On July 9, 2007, Sony announced the 80 GB PlayStation 3 model for North America, bundled with MotorStorm,to be available beginning August 6, 2007.In addition, Sony announced a price drop in which the 60 GB model would sell for US$499.Around this time SCEE President David Reeves and Sony Computer Entertainment, Incorporated President Kaz Hirai clarified that the North American "price drop" was in fact a clearance sale intended to eliminate stock of the 60 GB unit, the production of which had actually been halted at the time of the price drop announcement. After all 60 GB units were sold, only the 80 GB unit would remain in stores in North America.
On August 30, 2007, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) senior director of corporate communications Dave Karraker stated that it had sold and shipped all of its remaining North American 60 GB models to retailers, and that the company no longer has any inventory in its warehouses.According to spokeswoman Kimberly Otzman, retailer supplies for the North American 60 GB model would probably last through October 2007.
On October 5, 2007, SCEE announced a 40 GB PlayStation 3 model for release on October 10, 2007, in the PAL territories of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In Australia and New Zealand, the 40 GB model was announced to be released on October 11, 2007, priced at AUD$699 for Australia and $799 for New Zealand.
On October 9, 2007, it was announced that the the 40 GB Playstation 3 model will be released in Japan on November 11, 2007, with the new Ceramic White color, in addition to the original Piano Black. Both models will retail for a recommended retail price of JP¥39,980. As with the SCEE announcement, an accompanying price drop was announced in Japan for older PlayStation 3 models, with both the 20 GB and 60 GB receiving a JP¥5,000 price reduction in the suggested retail price to JP¥44,980 and JP¥54,980, respectively.
On October 10, 2007, the 40 GB PlayStation 3 model was released in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In Europe, the 40 GB had a price of €399.99. The 60 GB Starter Pack receiving a reduction in price to €499 except in the British Isles, where the Starter Pack will be replaced by a £349 Value Pack with two first party games (Motorstorm and Resistance: Fall of Man) and one SIXAXIS controller (as opposed to two controllers in the £425 Starter Pack). Once stocks of 60 GB PAL region model are exhausted, the 40 GB model will be the only one available in the SCEE territories.
On October 11, 2007, the 40 GB PlayStation 3 model was released in Australia and New Zealand.
On October 18, 2007, SCEA announced that the 80 GB PlayStation 3 model would receive an immediate price reduction in North America to $499 (USD/CAD). In addition, the 40 GB model would be released on November 2, 2007 for $399, with Spider-Man 3 on Blu-ray as a pack-in. (USD/CND).
Differences
In addition to all of the features of the 20 GB model, the 60 GB model has internal IEEE 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, multiple flash card readers (SD/MultiMedia Card, CompactFlash Type I/Type II, Microdrive, Memory Stick/PRO/Duo) and a chrome coloured trim.In terms of hardware, the 80 GB model released in South Korea is identical to the 60 GB model released in Europe and Australia (European territories), except for the difference in hard drive size.Like the South Korean and Europe models, the North American 80 GB model also excludes the PlayStation 2 "Emotion Engine" chip, instead providing PS2 compatibility via software emulation, thereby reducing the level of compatibility (see Removal of hardware support for more details). The 40 GB model has two USB ports instead of the four USB ports on other models, and does not include a multi memory card port, SACD support, or any backwards compatibility with PlayStation 2 titles.
No official Wi-Fi or flash memory card readers have yet been released by Sony for the 20 GB system, although plans for such add-ons are in place.[48] Nevertheless, as the model features four USB 2.0 ports, wireless networking and flash memory card support can already be obtained through the use of widely available external USB adapters.
Second generation PS3s (40 GB) are using Cell CPUs of 65nm while the first generation PS3s (60 GB) were using Cell CPU of 90nm. This means that the system runs cooler and requires less power to operate.
Sales and production costs
The PlayStation 3's initial production cost is estimated to have been US$805.85 for the 20 GB model and US$840.35 for the 60 GB model;however, they were priced at US$499 and US$599, respectively.The high manufacturing costs meant that every unit was sold at a loss of approximately $250, contributing to Sony's games division posting an operating loss of ¥232.3 billion (US$1.97 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 2007.In April 2007, soon after these results were published, Ken Kutaragi, the head of gaming at Sony, announced plans to retire. Various news agencies, including The Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that this was due to poor sales, whilst SCEI maintains that Kutaragi had been planning his retirement for six months prior to the announcement.
Since the system's launch, production costs have been reduced significantly as a result of phasing out the EE chip and falling hardware costs.The cost of manufacturing Cell microprocessors has fallen dramatically as a result of moving to the 65 nm production process and Blu-ray diodes being around $100 cheaper to manufacture.
The cumulative reduction in production costs is as follows:
Blu-ray (cost reduction: US$100)
Cell B.E. (cost reduction: US$29 – US$40)
EE removal (cost reduction: US$27)
Chipset Modifications: Sony has removed a CXD9208GP, 2 RDRAM chips (US$5), and some passives and are planning on moving the RSX graphics chip from 90 nm to 65 nm production process and "the unification of separate smaller ICs — such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi — into single chip solutions and a change to a more specialized Southbridge." (cost reduction: unknown)
This brings the total cost reduction to at least $156 excluding the chipset modifications. Excluding the 65nm Cell B.E. change, the minimum cost reduction based on this approximation becomes $127.
On January 7, 2007, Sony met its goal of shipping 1 million units to North America.Just over a week later, on January 16, 2007, Sony confirmed they had shipped 1 million units in Japan, bringing the worldwide total to over 2 million shipped.As of April 1, 2007, approximately 5.5 million units had been shipped worldwide.
In the worldwide marketplace, PlayStation 3 is currently behind its competitor systems, the Xbox 360 and the Wii, both overall and in monthly sales. In Japan the Wii outsold the PS3 by 3 to 1 in August, 4 to 1 in July, 6.5 to 1 in June, 5.6 to 1 in May and 4 to 1 in April;likewise the PS3 sold 2.5 times more units in June than the Xbox 360. In Japan 2,800,576 Wiis have been sold in total, compared to 1,143,798 PS3s; however the Xbox 360, which was released almost a year earlier than its competitors has sold only 380,131 units.
In North America, the PS3 was outsold 4.4 to 1 by the Wii and 2.2 to 1 by the Xbox 360 in June 2007, and sold the least units of any seventh generation console in the period January through April.Additionally, the PS3 saw the largest drop in sales of the three systems, selling 37% less in April than the previous month; Sony has attributed the poor sales in April to a lack of new software for the console.In many cases, the system has been outsold by its predecessor, the PlayStation 2.
Sony has stated that the PS3 has been consistently outselling its competitors in Australia, although it still lags behind both in total units sold.
