Sony Won’t Close The Door On Future PS5 Price Increases

thegamer.com:

Sony was recently asked about the possibility of a price increase for the PS5 during an earnings call to investors. The response was that given current market pressures, the company wants to keep its options open. “About a potential price increase for the PS5, at this point in time there is nothing specific I can share with you about prices,” Executive Deputy President and Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki said.

This comes in the wake of news that Sony has been raising the prices of consumer electronics including cameras, home theaters, and headphones in a variety of different countries, especially Japan. According to the company, these price hikes were the result of an ongoing semiconductor and chip shortage in addition to various other factors which have caused the cost of primary materials, manufacturing, and most notably shipping to steadily increase over the course of this past year.

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Vice President and Research Director at Forrester Glenn O’Donnell predicted back in May that semiconductor and chip prices would increase by up to 15 percent this year. “Chipmakers face their own increasing supply issues that are exacerbated by the Ukraine war,” the analyst pointed out. “Demand remains high while supply remains constrained.” O’Donnell went on to say that “energy prices are also on a tear including electricity. Chipmaking requires an enormous amount of electric power.”

The rising price of semiconductors and chips could cause companies to increase the price of cars, consumer electronics, home appliances, and many other products according to O’Donnell. “Margins are already tight on such products, so they have no choice but to raise prices,” he said.

Globa