PlayStation 4 Could Debut with Lower Price than Xbox One

One of the highlights won't be what's inside the PlayStation 4, but the potential for a much lower starting price compared to its predecessor over six years ago.

Michael Pachter, analyst for the Wedbush Morgan investment firm, estimated the costs of making each unit of both Sony's and Microsoft's next-generation consoles to Games Industry. He believes the PS4 will have a lower debut price at $349.

[Pachter] estimates that the PlayStation 4 has a bill of materials at around $275, while Microsoft's Xbox One costs around $325. As such, Wedbush is expecting the new Microsoft console to cost $399.

But while Microsoft's new hardware may be priced higher initially, it's also more likely to be available at a subsidised price to the consumer through a subscription contract from a broadcast, cable or ISP provider.

If that's correct, than the price will be about $250 less than where PlayStation 3 debuted at with a steep $599 price tag. That's already an eye-opener even if Microsoft will try to get their machine lower through a bundled package with certain internet and cable providers.

Of course, the estimated price would likely be the 250 GB model, although it wasn't specified in the article. One would assume the price could be $399 or as high as $449 for a 500 GB model.

Those planning on using a lot more storage are hoping to have a simple setup to swap out the hard drive like the PS3's "Super Slim" model.

With the consensus being that Sony's new console is just for gamers while Microsoft's will have more of a focus on being a media center, it's smarter to gauge where the Xbox One will debut at and market the PS4 at a lower price.

[Photo source: Flickr/faseextra]