Report: Sony struggling with PS5 costs, price point uncertain

Cookie banner

Sony is struggling with “costly parts,” driven by high demand for memory components, that could drive the price of the PlayStation 5 to around $500, according to a report from Bloomberg. The current manufacturing cost of the PS5, Bloomberg says, is around $450.

Competition for DRAM and NAND flash memory are said to be driving up costs, but Bloomberg also reports that Sony is using an especially expensive cooling system for PS5. A common complaint about the company’s current-generation console, the PlayStation 4, is loud fan noise due to heat dissipation.

Bloomberg says Sony is taking a wait-and-see approach — meaning, waiting to see how Microsoft prices its Xbox Series X console — to setting the PS5’s price. But if Sony follows a similar pricing model for PS5 as it did with the launch of PS4, a price of $499 for PS5 seems possible, if not very likely.

When Sony unveiled first details on the PS5 last year, the console sounded more expensive than the $399.99 PlayStation 4 Pro. But the company said it was targeting an “appealing” price point based on the PS5’s feature set.

We may not know the price of the PlayStation 5 (or the Xbox Series X) until June at the earliest. Microsoft will attend E3 2020, where it’s expected to reveal more details about its next-gen Xbox. Sony said it will skip E3 this year in favor of other consumer events.

Both the PS5 and Xbox Series X are planned to launch during the holiday quarter this year, and are expected to have similar price points.