PlayStation 4 Won't Generate Losses for Sony that PlayStation 3 Did

Sony promises investors the PlayStation 4 launch won't generate "anything like the losses" the company experienced following the launch of the PlayStation 3.

Andrew House, head of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) said that the investment made on Sony's forthcoming PlayStation 4 (PS4) console will be much less than the investment it made on the PlayStation 3, with the latteer incurring huge losses following its launch.

"We will not generate anything like the losses we did for the PlayStation 3," House said to investors recently. During the launch of PlayStation 3, Sony incurred a losses of up to £2.2 billion in 2007 and 2008, according to CVG.

The reason for the significant loss on the PlayStation 3 was down to Sony investing a huge amount on its research and development (R&D), creating its own microchips and processors. It is also said that Sony incurred losses on each console sold despite of the console's high price of £429, compared to the cheaper Microsoft Xbox 360.

Instead of developing bespoke hardware for the PlayStation 4, the next-gen console uses a standard x86 AMD processor, which has cut down on R&D costs significantly and allowed Sonyu to put the PS4 on sale with the lower price tag of £349.

Shifting currency

Sony also warned its investors regarding unexpected losses due to shifts in currency rates. CVG states that the Japanese multinational conglomerate chose to deal in US dolalrs for the console's manufacturing cost, but the weak Japanese currency (Yen) might lead to higher manufacturing expense.

The firm added that such expenses would be recovered by the increased console prices in US territories.

In the related news, Sony's portable gaming console - the PlayStation Vita - has been reported to be available for sale at $199.99 in stores in the US. The drop to $199.99 means that the store discounted the Wi-Fi-only and 3G version of Vita by $50 or $100 respectively.

It is speculated that such a price drop was made due to the struggling sales of Sony Vita. Sony recently disclosed the Vita and PSP sales for the Q1, which together resulted in 600,000 units as compared to 1.4 million units in the same time-frame the previous year.

The Sony PlayStation 4 is scheduled to be release later this year for North American and European regions.