While the PlayStation 3's lifetime-to-date sales still trail those for the Wii and Xbox 360, Sony's console is recently nabbing second place in terms of North American monthly hardware sales as tracked by the NPD Group. The momentum appears to be there but in light of this, Sony Corp. Chairman and CEO Howard Stringer does not believe a new price cut is in order for the PS3 anytime before this Christmas.

Stringer explains in an interview with German wire Die Welt Online that his company has not yet reduced PS3 production costs to a break-even level. Indeed, high production costs continue to take a bite of PS3 profitability; according to Sony's annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), this is to the tune of just over $3 billion USD. Acclaim Games co-founder and CCO David Perry mused during his GCDC keynote last week that Sony stood little chance of making money on PS3 hardware as is, given how costly it was to the company. Perhaps Stringer seems inclined to agree, joking with the Welt Online that his company is not likely to recover that kind of money back on the PS3 during his own lifetime:

Not for as long as I live (laughs). It will certainly take some time. The traditional business model for the Playstation envisaged us making a loss with the hardware in the early years until the production costs had decreased to a point that enabled us to break even. In the meantime, we earn money with the games. We are currently at the stage in which we need to get a grip on the production costs. That takes time. We are already making more money with the games than we are losing with the hardware.

Analysts like Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter previously predicted that the PS3 could start selling as well as the PS2 did during its peak once pricing for the Blu-ray equipped console hits below $200 USD. Good thing Sony has been pushing for a 10-year lifecycle for their consoles!

In the meantime, Stringer seems to harbor some grudging respect for Nintendo's Wii. While he stressed that the Wii's success has not adversely affected PS3 business in turn, Stringer saw merit in Nintendo's determination towards targetting a new user base.  He also acknowledges Nintendo's ability to generate profit on hardware as a "superior business model".