Although soaring RAM prices haven’t yet had a widespread impact on the prices of current-generation consoles, it’s highly probable that console manufacturers will eventually be forced to raise hardware prices. However, Sony has plans in place to minimize the effects of these high component costs, though it’s definitely not good news for all current PlayStation 5 owners.
As reported by Automaton, during Sony’s latest earnings call, CFO Lin Tao addressed the current situation, stating that the company has secured the memory needed for the end-of-the-year sales season in the next fiscal year. However, the company plans to “minimize” the impact of rising RAM prices by “monetizing the installed base” while continuing to grow software and network services revenue.
Needless to say, this doesn’t sound like good news for the 92.2 million current PlayStation 5 owners. While a direct price increase for games is unlikely, given the goal of growing software volume, the mention of network services revenue suggests that an increase in PlayStation Plus subscription prices could be on the table. This would impact the vast majority of the user base, as a subscription is required to access online multiplayer for most titles.
While any price increase is unfortunate, dealing with soaring component costs driven largely by the AI-fueled chip crisis is the biggest challenge every hardware manufacturer will face for the next few years. The situation is reportedly impacting future systems as well, as the PlayStation 6 could launch as late as 2028 or 2029 in the hopes that prices return to a more reasonable state.
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