Sony "struggling" to lower $450 PlayStation 5 price, report claims

Due to high manufacturing costs.

High prices for PlayStation 5 parts have pushed up Sony's manufacturing costs for the console, a new Bloomberg report claims.

Each PS5 will cost around $450 (£345) to make, Bloomberg's sources said - which will affect the price it's then sold at to consumers.

Sony declined to comment on Bloomberg's article.

DRAM and NAND flash memory costs are apparently to blame - as these components are also in high demand from smartphone manufacturers. Sony is also paying an "unusually expensive" amount per unit for the PS5's cooling system to ensure machines do not suffer from overheating.

At launch, PlayStation 4's manufacturing cost was believed to be around $381. It was initially sold at $399.

But it is hard to extrapolate much for PS5. Consoles are regularly sold for little profit - and sometimes at a small loss. Where PlayStation 5 lands depends more on how ruthless Sony wants to be to combat its rivals.

On that point, Bloomberg sources said Sony was currently taking a "wait-and-see approach" - something the company publicly said as much last week.

During its most recent investor call, Sony exec Hiroki Totok admitted the company was not ready to discuss the PlayStation 5 price publicly - and hinted it would wait for Microsoft to blink first and name its cost for Xbox Series X.

"Because we are competing in this space - it's very difficult to discuss anything about the price at this point," Totok said. "Depending upon the price level, we may have to determine the promotion that we are going to deploy and how much costs we are prepared to pay. So it's a question of balance."

But if Sony is indeed struggling to source cheaper components, this may narrow the company's options on how flexible it can be.