Why the PS5 didn’t get a price hike in the US
polygon.comThree years after the PlayStation 3 launched, Sony dropped the price of its most popular model by another $100. It was the second such price cut to that point. Two years into its lifespan, the PlayStation 4 dropped by $50.
Barely two years into the PlayStation 5’s reign, Sony has announced that the price of its hard-to-find console is going up. Like the PlayStation 3 and PS4, there are different circumstances and different powers in charge leading to this unusual move. But the price hike is hitting every market except the United States. So while American buyers probably shouldn’t expect a $50, much less $100, discount once the PS5 turns two, or maybe even three years old, should they also expect to get dragged into a situation involving supply chains, currency values, and investor anxieties?
Daniel Ahmad, a senior analyst based in for the Shanghai-based games research firm Niko Partners, isn’t so sure. “A price increase in the U.S. is unlikely given the strength of the U.S. dollar,” against other currencies, and that most likely drove the initial MSRP increase. It hit Europe, where the dollar and Euro are 1:1 for the first time in 20 years, for €50 more; touched the U.K. (where the pound is the lowest against the dollar it has been since 1985) for £30 more; and tagged Japan for another ¥5,500 yen.
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In an email to Polygon, Ahmad noted that the United States is the largest console market, and one of the most competitive, which makes a price increase there riskier. But another industry analyst very familiar to the gaming public, Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities, is somewhat more pessimistic on behalf of consumers.
“If they have a chance to raise price in the U.S., [Sony] probably will do so, but raising
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