That would let Sony keepthecostdown considerably while also easing development for the console since, by then, developers should finally have a handle on the PS3's hardware.
The reductions which took effect last year were only a small part of the total envisaged—much larger cuts are due in later years (again, these were staggered to keepthe overall cost of the tax cuts down).
In the U.S. market, phone companies typically subsidize much of thecost of a smartphone to keepthe price down as long as a customer signs up for a two-year contract.
Its purchases of foreign assets keepthecost of capital down and its appetite for raw materials keeps their price up, to the benefit of commodity producers wherever they sell their wares.
Sony announced that it would keepthe PSN down indefinitely—at an estimated cost of ten million dollars in lost revenue per week—as it raced to plug the holes.