PA ImagesBetter rack up the trade-ins: the Playstation 5 arrives this Christmas, but it won’t be cheap.
Not that anyone ever expected it to be an absolute bargain. Such is the nature of innovation, technological advances mean more money, meaning higher production costs, meaning, of course, a bigger price tag.
While Sony typically finalise the price of their upcoming consoles in the February prior, the home tech giant is struggling to put a figure on the PS5 due to its peskily high costs behind the scenes.
Sony Interactive Entertainment Sources with knowledge of the console’s production told Bloomberg that particularly scarce components have pushed the manufacturing costs for the PS5 to around $450 per unit, making it even more difficult to strategically price against Microsoft (which is releasing its Xbox Series X later this year).
The PS4 hit store shelves back in 2013 with a retail price of $399, after a manufacturing cost of $381. If the making a PS5 does cost $450, price-makers would be looking at a $470 tag, minimum – which would be a tough sell for customers, considering Sony’s most expensive console, the PS4 Pro, is currently priced at $399.
Macquarie Capital analyst Damian Thong explained: ‘Consumers will benchmark their expectations based on the PS4 Pro and PS4. If Sony prices above that, it would likely be to balance a need to offset higher materials cost, against risk to demand.’
Public Domain PicturesA few reasons could be attributed to the PS5’s high costs in production: for example, demands for DRAM and NAND flash memory are particularly pricey, the integration of a UHD drive, an upgrade from standard Blu-Ray disc reading, and there are also reports Sony is using a more expensive cooling system for the new console.
Early in the PS4’s release, consumers complained about the console overheating and sounding like ‘it was taking off’, made worse by the loud fan noise due to heat dissipation.
In terms of the launch price, Playstation’s lead architect Mark Cerny seemed to echo the theory it’ll be more expensive – but also worth it. In recent tweets, he wrote: ‘I believe that we will be able to release it at [a suggested retail price] that will be appealing to gamers in light of its advanced feature set. That’s about all I can say.’
As long as it isn’t as butt-collapsing as the PS3 – which cost a whopping $599 at launch for the largest memory model.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.