The production cost of the PS3 could be cut
by $100US. nVIDIA
and Intel are getting pretty close. $299US HD DVD players are unlikely
this year.
The sources explained that global supply of HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc (BD)
pick-up heads (PUHs) is still tight because yield rates on blue-laser laser
diodes are quite low and the world's major suppliers of such PUHs, including
Sony and Matsushita (Panasonic), have assigned their production capacities for
own use first. Since PUHs and chipsets together account for 60-70% of the production
costs of HD DVD and BD players, the shortage of PUHs renders it almost impossible
to minimize the production costs to below US$299 this year, the sources noted.