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PS Vita only really worth $159

Posted Jan 22, 2012 at 9:00AM EST by Harrison E

Listed in: News Tags: 3G, ps vita teardown, Sony, vita pricing, vita teardown

ps-vita-memcard

With every new console since the dawn of the seventh generation I've seen a concurrent theme of people taking apart the new devices and checking what it really costs under the hood. The first one I ever saw was when some guys took apart a Wii-Mote and found that it's parts were worth less than $20, despite the original controller pricetag. The most recent teardown has been with the Vita which internally only costs just below $160.

Of course, this is just for companies to make a large profit from initial releases and then slowly bring it down to the real price or even find cheaper parts as the life-span of the console goes on. The Vita eventually being $159 is a few years off, but not impossible as we see with this price guide.

The Display and Touchscreens: $50

Battery: $3.60

Cameras: $3.50

Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/GPS tech: $3.50

NAND: $6.00

SDRAM: $9.25

BB+XCR: $16.25

Non-electronic components: $11.00

Other: $30.00

Supporting materials: $10.00

While I do admit the detailing gets vague as it goes along, the console itself is probably being calculated to fit the standard or average prices of those internal pieces. Sony may get them even cheaper considering who they are, but who knows. The US has the price of $299 on release day and I will hopefully try it out in the near future.

I always liked seeing the insides of consoles, with all the tech pieces and wires, like having the original clear blue GameBoy Color, you could watch as the LED lit up inside the GameBoy when you turned it on and it was fascinating. But it was probably only really worth $100 back in the day.

Via [GamesIndustry.Biz]

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Also don't forget production costs, packaging, marketing, sales, etc. Like triac said, this only covers the cost of the components, so we aren't getting ripped off by $140. It's like the 3DS parts costing $101, though they probably had more wiggle room which is why they are now selling it at $170 for a slight loss.

+4 # RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — PlayNinBoxThwii60 2012-01-22 12:57

damn I came on here to drop some knowledge... But damn you got it down perfectly lol. Amen to that

# RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — sas 2012-01-22 15:00

Don't forget,they have to make up for returns, repairs, warranties, etc. with their price.

# RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — Cluster F Bomb 2012-01-24 02:02

AND retailers, who get it at a lower price than 250$

+2 # pleaseeee — gx 2012-01-22 12:11

do you really understand about doing business? do you know about profits? do you know that there are people that you must feed because they work for you to create the goods? man, really, learn more about basic economy, not just yapping nonsense

+1 # bullshit — faqu 2012-01-22 13:17

you forgot the price for manufacture,the quad core processor 2 of them actually 1 for process game data other for graphics,price for development? those people need to eat you know, the packaging?? the 1month free worth of data plan for the 3G users?? they hosting up the server is gonna cost them and the charger?? USB cable??you are missing alot of components you know

# RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — xnamkcor 2012-01-22 13:31

Where's the CPU and GPU in that list?

PS: To the other people, production, shipping, R&D, etc are not part of its worth. They are costs paid by the company in exchange to produce a product. They don't factor into the actual worth of the device.

+1 # RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — Chuck 2012-01-22 13:48

then what is the actual worth of the device? if you say "the parts" as this article imply, then you dont know anything about making a product and suggest you to ivestigate more

without the people that assemble, the buildings adapted to make it how much generalized the part are(lower costs) the package the comply with regulations how many have errors and cant be sold also materials transport of materials and distribution, that without counting the storage, R&D(if you dont have blueprints and software you cant make the product)cand marketing you need to sell it(if you dont sell you dont even recover your investment and cant produce anymore) if there is no profit why invest in the first place?(= no product made)

its funny how the the autor of the article posted nonsense that almost all people know is wrong

how much is worth the 3ds? an iphone? an ipad? those android tablets? their parts?

# RE: RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — xnamkcor 2012-01-22 15:27

We aren't talking about making a product. We're talking about the product itself.
If I spent 500 dollars to build a bookshelf, and then made the exact same bookshelf and spent 2,000 dollars, the second bookshelf isn't worth more.

# RE: RE: RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — Chuck 2012-01-22 18:08

your are making a contradiction, in your example you speak about making a product

and you are aware that vita is made by sony and no one else can make a vita and sell it

if you want to speak about the product itself you can speak about how confortable is, how it respond or all the things any review of a console, gadget or cellphone do, but if you want to evaluate the worth of a product by the cost of making one then you are speaking about how to make one and lot of the requisites to make one arent commented and not include the cost of the software that neeeds to be maintained

also the title of the article is wrong, the source says

"PlayStation Vita 3G teardown puts material costs at $159"

the author of this article is using the wrong words a piece of hardware is not worth the cost of the parts only

# RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — xnamkcor 2012-01-22 20:37

Why do I get the feeling that the only reason that quotation has capital letters is that you copied and pasted it?

PS: Of course I speak of making a product. What did you expect, for me to speak about asking space whales to wish a bookshelf into existence?

# RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — Chuck 2012-01-23 02:44

yep I copy pasted it, any problem?

and about your example, well you put it after saying

"We aren't talking about making a product. We're talking about the product itself."

and then you put the example where you speak about building it

also is a bad example because only sony can build vita nintendo cant make a "vita" they have their own console with diferent costs on each piece

there is no relation to making two exact bookshelf with diferent costs

# RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — xnamkcor 2012-01-23 14:18

If you say so, it must be true.

# RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — reza666 2012-01-24 02:47

Because its true. Nowadays people see blindly on the
component cost and say price is high but considering development/test/OS/distribution and many other costs that come with a new product is never considered which is of course wrong.
Afte all somebody must pay for that and last I checked Sony didn't do charity.

# RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — xnamkcor 2012-01-24 14:51

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if Sony did do charity. Most reputable organizations will do charity.

Like I said before: if I made the same exact product twice, but one of those times I spent more time or money on it, would one or the other be worth more?

# RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — bobobobobob 2012-01-26 07:54

depends upon fluctuations of raw material value, if i buy the wood/screws in may for £500 than there was a severe wood and screw shortage for some bizzare reason, and so the price of wood and screws was greatly increased the second bookshelf would indeed be worth what i payed but also the original bookshelf i made would then also have a greater value than when i made it

# RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — xnamkcor 2012-01-26 16:19

And they would both have the same value as eachother. Despite the different price I paid to make them.

# Im pretty sure they know that... — AnubisHorus 2012-01-22 15:56

The whole reason everyone is acting like this in response to articles like these is because of the purpose... People who read these articles think the author is implying that Sony is making the difference in parts for the system vs retail price... When in reality they are doing just what the article states... Telling you the price of raw materials... If anything... Minus marketing and all the other stuff the biggest difference in price is selling the system to a distributor like GameStop, bestbuy...etc... Sony needs to profit on their device... And the retailer needs to profit on the device...

# RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — KaitoKid 2012-01-28 03:23

I bet an ipad cost

-2 # RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — kingjose 2012-01-22 14:00

Thanks for the heads up now I will wait till the price drops I was gonna get it on release day but now im gonna wait 2-3 yrs the world is in rescission and they want to over price a product they will lose my money unless they drop the price which I highly doubt they will

+1 # RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — sas 2012-01-22 15:05

Is waiting 2-3 year really worth waiting for a price drop? If anything it will only drop $50, or the equivalent in your countries currency. That's only the price on one game. Your loss, don't worry, I'll enjoy it for you until you get it.

# RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — baba 2012-01-22 15:06

# RE: RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — xnamkcor 2012-01-22 17:25

# RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — Keith_ 2012-01-22 16:50

A period. It's helpful. You should try using it to seaparate sentences and thoughts. Other users appreciate it.

# RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — DJ PON-3 2012-01-22 20:10

My IQ has just dropped by reading that

# RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — fjgjf 2012-01-22 21:54

how the fuck is it overpriced? Everyone assumed it would be at least 500 before it came out and its half that but idiots like you still complain. If the fact that it costs less to make then the price you pay for it is a problem for you then you better not buy anything else in your life because that is the case with everything...

# RE: RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — Aldo_P 2012-01-23 21:07

Errr exactly who have you been talking to that was thinking this was gonna cost $500? I mean Sony made plenty of really dumb decisions but even they know charging that much would be commercial suicide for Vita, and if they actually have any long-term faith in Vita they should drop it to a reasonable price and make back the development costs over the next 6 years or whatever, but instead they charging as much as they can to make their costs back as quickly as possible, and if they can't have that much faith in this thing then why should any of us.

# RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — Azariel_z 2012-01-23 05:36

and how much to avoid Chinese workers jumping form the roof??

# RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — Keith_ 2012-01-23 18:00

meh. Just borrow Wile E Coyote's umbrella. It works for boulders...

+1 # RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — UltimaXIX 2012-01-23 05:48

*Sigh*

Bottled water isn't worth even a tenth of the price we pay for it, but when you buy a bottle of water you're paying more than the mere price of the water and plastic it takes to make one. If you've ever paid for bottled water, then you by default must agree, whether you're aware of it or not.

Same idea behind the Vita, just more complicated.

# RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — Aldo_P 2012-01-23 08:41

Sony can and should if not now then very quickly drop the price to something that more reflects the recession and it's competition, because i am absolutely confident Vita is gonna seriously struggle to begin with then just get worse over the years, So Sony needs to get in there now with a price cut and put some real effort into offering new features that are actually worth charging for and make back lost money from initial high price with bigger user base and more software sales, and it seems a bit of a double standard complaining this $170 is only for hardware and not including production, advertising etc. because people kept making a big deal of the $200 Sony lost on the Ps3's release when it also only got up to that $200 for hardware only.

+1 # RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — LiftarensGuide 2012-01-24 09:31

If only one could buy the handheld parts and assemble it oneself like a PC...
But I imagine it'd be quite harder than assembling a PC.

# haha — whine whine whine 2012-01-26 10:56

you people are all so buttsore over the price well boo who! shit the xperia play cost alot more than 299 without a contract and was no where as advanced get over it you get what you pay for go buy a psp 1000 if you are such a cheapskate

# RE: haha — Aldo_P 2012-01-26 21:22

Do you think the average Ferrari costs anywhere near what they charge? No, because that's what the market decides they worth, and phones cost more simply because they phones and people are willing to pay their extra profit margins because phones are practical, where Vita is nothing more than a console but they charging close to double the price of Psp & NDS and about 30-50% more than 3DS and it just isn't worth it.

# RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — singlehander 2012-01-27 20:29

This is so fxxking stupid, they don't even know the different of "how much its worth" and "how much it costs to make"!!!

# RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — Michael Fox 2012-01-28 21:48

The title of this article is absurd. If you had said it only costs $159 to produce, that would be one thing, but to say it's only "worth" $159? Get a grip.

First, you have to pay for labour to assemble it. Or perhaps in the author's world, that's free.

Next, there's a cost to ship it.

Next up, retailer margin.

.. and so on.

# RE: RE: PS Vita only really worth $159 — Aldo_P 2012-01-29 12:58

Using the Cost of Labor and marketing argument just doesn't work because Sony lost $200 on every first Ps3 sales and made the money back over it's 7 year life, so really what's the difference between Ps3 & Vita? They were confident Ps3 would do well because no matter what happens it can always get the same games as 360 so there was always gonna be games for it, but Sony's too arrogant and a bit too elitist to allow NDS Shovelware so almost all games have to be made only for that console, and Sony knows Vita is gonna struggle so they gonna get as much money as they possibly can early on because i doubt even they have the confidence in the future of this thing, and if developers give up on it like they did with Psp about 3 years ago because of lack of sales then it's only Sony to blame.

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