PS5 Price Cut Would be “Very Difficult,” Says Sony President
Despite total shipments topping 54.8 million since its launch in November 2020, the PlayStation 5 isn’t due for a big price cut anytime soon. Sony Interactive Entertainment president Hiroki Totoki said during an investor call (reported by IGN) that it was due to difficulties shrinking the PS5’s die size.
The company instead wants to ensure its business is “profitable, as well, we want to focus on user engagement, together with sales of units. We need to strike a nice balance between all of those components.” Totoki notes that monthly active users are the “most critical thing in our business right now.”
Though Sony forecasted 25 million PS5 consoles for this fiscal year, it revised the target to 21 million. It shipped 16.4 million consoles by the third quarter, with lifetime sales reaching 50 million in December 2023. This could explain the focus on user engagement and monthly active users, despite its third-quarter shipments increased by 1.1 million over the previous year.
Since launching, the PS5 saw a price increase worldwide in August 2022 due to “high global inflation rates” and “adverse currency trends.” The price increased again in Japan for the launch of the PS5 Slim (which also saw the digital-only version going from $399.99 to $449.99 in price).
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