Last week, the research firm IHS performed a teardown of Sony's PlayStation 4 and determined that the console cost $381 to build the console and controller. Today, the same firm released its findings from its Xbox One teardown to AllThingsD and it claims Microsoft's console costs $471 to build, along with its controller and Kinect sensor, for a product that Microsoft is selling for $499 in the U.S.
However, that's a much better margin than what Microsoft had with the Xbox 360. IHS claimed back in 2005 it cost $470 to make the $399 model with the 20 GB hard drive. As far as the Xbox One, IHS says the most expensive part is the CPU-GPU chip from AMD, which it claims costs $110, compared to the $100 chip inside the PS4.
The Kinect sensor cost $75, and the DDR3 memory cost $60. The console's external power brick cost $25 and other parts inside the retail box, including the headset, costs $10. IHS says that the whole thing costs $14 to assemble.
Microsoft later found a way to manufacture the Xbox 360 at a lower price and, as a result, the price of the console itself went down. That will likely happen with the Xbox One as well, but it remains to be seen when that will occur and if it will result in a price drop for the console.
Source: AllThingsD | Image via IHS
39 Comments - Add comment