Merrill Lynch has released a new breakdown of next generation hardware component costs suggesting that Xbox 360 "could be selling at half the price of PS3 in the latter half of 2006." Full stats breakdown inside...


The report puts a positive spin on Microsoft's future with Xbox 360 versus Sony's PS3. It includes estimated breakdown of hardware costs by component and shipping predictions. Particular emphasis on the manufacturing costs of each console has been paid in this report. Some of the highlights include:


"…The PS3 will not only be significantly more costly than Xbox 360 at launch, but will continue to operate at a cost disadvantage for several years. … We think that the Xbox 360 could be selling at half the price of PS3 in the latter half of 2006."



"…Our analysis indicates that Microsoft has a significant advantage in terms of cost. Taking Sony's weakened financial condition and Microsoft's deep pockets into consideration, we conclude that Microsoft's Xbox 360 should emerge as the early winner in the next round of the game console wars."


"Competitive pricing [for Microsoft] could hurt margins for Microsoft in the near term, but we think that Microsoft has the potential to exit 2006 with an installed base of 10 million units, with all that implies for more profitable software sales for 2007."


The report also states that ATI (GPU provider), Infineon (memory provider) and Marvel (licensed Microsoft to make an MMOG) could all benefit from an early lead on Xbox 360