PS3

In another post I mentioned that the Microsoft lost $150 per original Xbox sold. In an article from the latest issue of Fortune, it's said that each PS3, scheduled to debut in November, is poised to be sold at a loss over $200 apiece, despite the $499 price tag (basic version; $500 for enhanced). That will translate into $1 billion of loss for 2006 if it hits the target of selling 4 million by the end of the year.

The potential prize? A share of the $26.6 billion-a-year video-game market. Plus, Sony could populate the world with millions of Blu-ray HD DVD players and thus making it a de facto standard.