As everyone already knows, the next generation consoles are basically computers, and as such, the better or more rare the equipment, the higher the price. Well, Joystiq has a little report up saying the Xbox, because of its nearly 100% off the shelf parts could drop the price of their machine by as much as 50% of whatever the cost of the PlayStation 3 is by christmas of 2006, only around half a year after the PS3 is due to launch.
…towards the end of next year, Microsoft could easily sell their console for half the price of the PlayStation 3.
The biggest reasons, according to their breakdown, concerns the CPU and the Optical Media Drive. At launch, they estimate Sony’s system costing $495 to manufacture, compared to the $340 for each Xbox 360. Sony is paying $75 more than Microsoft for its use of a Blu-Ray drive, and $60 for its Cell processor.