Sony’s PlayStation 5 consoles might be next in line for a price hike, according to comments made by the company’s leadership in a call accompanying its latest financial results.
The prices of everything are going up right now, with the impact of tariffs imposed by the U.S. Trump administration being felt everywhere, but especially in the technologicial sector.
When asked directly about how tariffs would impact Sony’s hardware business, chief financial officer Lin Tao noted that the company was considering passing on part of the increase in costs to consumers.
Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki touched on PlayStation 5 directly, saying that the console was already being manufactured in multiple countries, and that on the topic of manufacturing in the U.S, “It needs to be considered going forward.”
This comes as Microsoft recently announced a price hike for Xbox hardware and accessories, with some games reaching $80 later this year. It’s worth noting that PlayStation 5 hardware did already see a price hike this year, but only in select countries, with the console’s price going up across Australia, Europe, and New Zealand.
Sony previously stockpiled PlayStation 5 consoles in the U.S. earlier in the year in order to buy time for options when tariffs went into effect, but this stockpile will obviously only last so long. The U.S. and China recently reached a 90-day deal that sees tariffs reduced for the time being, but when those 90 days are up, it’s unclear what companies can expect.
Nintendo has not yet raised the price of its upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 console ahead of its June launch, but the company has raised the price of several accessories.
Setting up manufacturing in the U.S. will be extremely expensive and time-consuming for any company, and as such, it’s not likely that we’ll see any movement on that front in the near term.
A recent report indicates that as the trade war continues, consoles could see a 69% price increase.
