Sony is reportedly still confused in determining the price of the PlayStation 5, which is planned to be released in the holiday season this year. The reason, some components used by the brand-new game console, such as cooling systems, are now experiencing an increase in prices.
In addition, the supply of DRAM and NAND flash components is also still scarce, due to high demand from a number of smartphone manufacturing companies such as Samsung, which is currently producing devices with 5G technology.
Scarcity of these components makes the price of these components expensive. This forced Sony to jack up the PS5 production price to around N160,000.
This was a difficult decision for Sony given its competition with Microsoft which also launched its new game console, Xbox Series X, at the same time.
Previously, Sony released the PS4 at a price of US $399 (around N145,000 naira) with a production price of US $381 (around N138,000 naira).
By applying the same profit difference, it is suspected that the PS5 will launch at a price of US $470 (around N170,000 naira).
Macquarie Capital analyst Damian Thong said that the price would make consumers think twice before buying a PS5. In fact, currently, the PS4 Pro is still considered expensive, and still often gets a discounted price.
“Consumers will compare prices (PS5) with PS4 prices at the time of its launch,” Damian said, as reported by Bloomberg.
Video game companies are known to set thin profit prices, and even lose money when selling their consoles. Usually, the new benefits are obtained through game sales and subscription services on the console.
Some parties argue that the PS5 should be sold at a low price to compete with the Xbox Series X, although it will lose money. On the other hand, Sony also wants to jack up the PS5 selling price to make a profit like the PS4.
In response, Sony Chief Executive Officer Kenichiro Yoshida said that he wanted to focus on the number of players, not the number of consoles sold.
“We want to keep the price of console materials under control and focus on the number of units in initial production,” Kenichiro said.
Some rumours also say that Sony will launch its latest VR headset after the launch of the PS5 console.
