Sony cut PS2 costs at their end
May ship 3/10 of production out to Taiwan according to analysts
Sony may farm out production of PlayStation 2 to Taiwanese companies in order to cut the cost of producing 20 million consoles annually. The report, which Goldman Sachs analyst KC Kao delivered to clients yesterday, indicates that Hon Hai Precision Industry Ltd, Asustek Computer Inc and Yageo Inc could receive orders that amount to the production of six million consoles a year. The orders would mean an exponential increase in revenue for the Taiwanese companies and a large weight off the mind of Sony, whose costs have had to be driven down in the last few weeks, a procedure which has included the scaling back of component suppliers in Japan by 1500, 60% By cutting component purchase costs by more than 15%, Sony aims to save 300 billion yen annually, or about $9.7 billion. Sony has pledged to ship 20 million consoles in the year ending March 31st, despite recent events in America, which analysts have said may make parents less inclined to consider a gaming console as a present for their child this Christmas. Related Feature - PS2 sales jump