PS4 built on a budget to avoid PlayStation 3 loss-making syndrome

PS4 won't make the major losses of the PlayStation3
Sony's eyeing up a more lucrative future

The PS4 won't be a loss-maker according to Sony, which did everything it could to calm potential fears of analyst and investor bods in its most recent earnings call.

Sony's chief financial officer, Masura Kato, said that unlike the PS3, the new console would be made as cost-effectively as possible, so that the company doesn't lose money on the hardware it sells (money that it traditionally recoups through game sales and PSN subscriptions).

Much of the development of the PS3's chip was done by Sony itself, but the company won't be taking on so much hard work this time round.

"This time, yes we have a team working on chip development, but we already have existing technology to incorporate and also product investment and all the facilities will now be invested by our partners, other boundaries, so we don't have to make all the investment in-house," he added.

Nice little earner

Sony predicts that 5 million PSP and PS Vita consoles will be sold this financial year. If you don't think that's a very strong figure, you're not wrong.

But the PS4 might be what Sony needs to make its gaming endeavours a bit more lucrative after the poor performance of the Vita.

The company also announced its first annual profit for five years, putting it in a good position ahead of the PS4 launch.

However, Sony didn't provide any predicted sales forecast for the PS4, which is what we're actually a lot more interested in right now.

  • The future has arrived. Read our PS4 review

Via Eurogamer

Hugh Langley

Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.


Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.