do you think console manufactures have missed a trick

[Sheppy]

Tom love your youtube reviews.
But do you think console manufactures have missed a trick. like GPU manufactures give cards to the likes of gigabyte/asus. why have console manufactures never done the same.
ie produce a basic console and let the likes of asus do there thing with the cooling, case and so forth.

 

[BigDaddyKong]

That would take a lot of money out of their pocket.

 

[Kilbane]

The main reason being is that all consoles of the same type need to be identical in performance etc.

The biggest advantage with consoles is that if something is designed to work with it, it will work across the board.

Secondly, as Kong stated, there just isn't enough money in it. Who would pay more than the need to to have the exact same hardware? Whatever parts can be modified on a console already have a huge market available (Cases, controller mods, cooling fans etc.).

 

[BigDaddyKong]

Right now, Microsoft gets $299.00 hypothetically for each unit sold. If they licensed it out to someone else, they might get $50.00 for that license. Then Asus or who ever makes it, and marks up the price and takes all the profit.

Someone is going to buy a console, there is not reason to take take a cut in hardware price to let someone else manufacture it. There is no reason to offer choices. If that person wants to play, they have to buy from them.

 

[steverebo]

Microsoft and Sony actually don't make any profit on their consoles they actually make all their money on the royalties licencing of games to developers and their own titles sales and their individual multiplayer networks.

 

[NeverBackDown]

Microsoft and Sony actually don't make any profit on their consoles they actually make all their money on the royalties licencing of games to developers and their own titles sales and their individual multiplayer networks.

They do make money off there consoles. And the profit margins grow over the span of the console cycle as AMD lose profit margin due to higher yields, more mass production, smaller nodes. Sony made more per console than MS, because MS bundled the console with many unneeded extras. However as it is now it should be pretty close, as they sell for similar prices for the unit alone. Although it should increase again since the new "slim" versions are coming out.

The royalties they make do have a large share of there profit, but it's not exclusivey just that.