The PlayStation 5 could be going up in price again after Sony CFO Lin Tao speaks out on the impact the current tariffs have had on the console.
The increase in tariffs between the USA and China has impacted plenty, but gaming has become one of the most notable hit, especially with the upcoming release of the Nintendo Switch 2 and the number of games coming from China. In fact, the Switch 2 had to pull its pre-orders and revisit its pricing to combat heightened costs.
It’s not just the Switch 2 that’s facing some difficulty. The PlayStation 5 could be going up in price again, according to Sony.
Sony CFO warns that PlayStation 5 could go up in price again
During their quarterly earnings, Sony revealed that the current cost of the PlayStation 5 may be increasing thanks to the current tariffs between China and America.
“In terms of the tariffs, we are not just simply calculating the simple tariffs to come up with 100 billion yen, but are thinking about the current available information and looking at the market trend, we may pass the price [to customers] and also shipment allocation. So we are taking different measures in managing to come up to the 100 billion yen.” explained Sony’s CFO, Lin Tao.
100 billion yen is the equivalent of 512 million dollars, so they have a large amount of money to make up, and it stands to reason that the prices could increase for the customer.
Tao went on to explain that they’re also looking into the likelihood of producing their hardware locally: “The PlayStation 5 is being manufactured in many areas [its components], so whether its going to be manufactured in the US or not, it needs to be considered going forward in such a critical situation,” but it’s certainly an area they’re exploring.
Interestingly, the increase in price is something many different publishers and companies are looking into, only heightening the likelihood that we’ll see booth games and consoles getting more expensive in the future. Even Nintendo is preparing for the impact it’ll have on its release.
Speaking to IGN, Rhys Elliott, head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics, explained that “on top of the hardware price hikes, we’ll likely see PlayStation increasing software prices as well. With Nintendo and Xbox raising software prices, the floodgates are now open.”
With PlayStation warning fans that they’re likely following suit, only time will tell to see how much the console’s price increases, or if they find a way to keep it at its current price.
Super Mario 64 player finds surprising secret by leaving game running for 14 months