The launch price of thePS5is a factor that could bolster Sony’s position against its competition, mainly the Xbox Series X. Sony has had an enormously successful time with the PS4 which has sold well over 100 million units at this point, so the company is going to try and maintain that momentum as best it can as it transitions into the launch of the PS5 later this year. However, a price that doesn’t sit well with consumers could put a hard stop to that momentum.
There isn’t a lot of information that is currently known about thePS5. Besides some specifications, a logo, and a launch window, there is still a lot for Sony to show off. Some rumors of a PS5 reveal event have been floating around for a while now which indicates that fans can expect some new information on the console to drop soon.
However, fans shouldn’t expect to see theprice of the PS5any time soon as it is something that’ll more than likely be revealed at a later date, depending on Microsoft’s plans. The price is arguably the most important aspect of the console and Sony’s unique history proves why.
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Every PlayStation Launch Price
In North America, the PS1 launched in 1995 at $299, the PS2 in 2000 at the same price of $299, the PS3 in 2006 at both $499 and $599, and finally the PS4 in 2013 at $399. There are a number of things to consider when looking at Sony’s pricing structure throughout PlayStation’s history, as there are even some hints as to the eventual cost of the PS5, whichSony will likely reveal after Microsoftdoes for the Xbox Series X. The most immediate thing to note is the anomaly that is the PS3.
Sony is a company that enjoys investing heavily in proprietary technology and that is exactly why it blundered so heavily with the launch of the PS3, with the cell processor, Blu-ray player, PS2 chips, and more costing Sony billions of dollars in losses.Putting the PS3 asidethough, Sony has had a consistent streak of pricing its PlayStation consoles in the $299 to $399 range, which is ostensibly around the same price when adjusting for inflation.
The Production Cost of a PS5 Unit
According to a report from Bloomberg, it’s going to cost Sony approximately $450 to build each unit of PS5 (excluding fees associated with shipping and retail). The report states that an unusual choice incooling system for the PS5has driven up the cost of the unit, as this time around, Sony decided to spend a little extra on an apparently higher end cooling system to handle the components better.
Besides that, a new line ofsmartphones is affecting the PS5by creating a shortage of available memory components, potentially further raising the price of each unit. It’s clear at this point that the PS5 is going to be more expensive than the PS4 was at launch.
Predicting the Price of the PS5
Basically, considering all of the above information, it seems like a safe bet that Sony will most likelyprice the PS5at $499 when it goes on sale later this year.
First, the estimated bill of materials created an absolute minimum cost of $450, which rises after packaging, shipping, and retailing. If sold at $499, Sony might sell each PS5 unit at a loss when it launches (which isn’t uncommon for a console maker) but at least the loss won’t be as egregious as the losses caused by the production of the PS3.
Second, a price of $499 might seem higher than every otherPlayStation launchprice before it (excluding PS3), but when taking into account the buying power of a dollar over the 25 years of PlayStation’s history, the price actually lines up well with what Sony has offered in the past. When adjusted for inflation, a purchase of $299 in 1995 would cost $506 in 2020, lining up almost exactly with the predicted launch price.
Clearly, Sony isn’t too keen on repeating the loss pattern of the PS3, so it wouldn’t be wise for the company to try and price the console at $599. That price point has become so synonymous with the hubris and greed of mid-2000s Sony to the point that any hint of it doing the same thing again could potentially cause customers to jump back over to Xbox.
