When Sony launched its official website for the PlayStation 5, many expected at least some kind of announcement for an upcoming reveal. Instead, the company said that it wasn’t “quite ready to fully unveil the next generation of PlayStation.” This was after CFO Hiroki Totoki said it was difficult to discuss anything about price at the time.
The situation is apparently a bit more complicated than that. According to Bloomberg who spoke “people with knowledge of the matter”, manufacturing costs for the console have shot up to $450 per unit. This is due to limited components, namely DRAM and NAND flash memory which are highly sought after. The recent coronavirus outbreak in China hasn’t had any impact on the system’s production.
Bloomberg also heard from those knowledgeable about the same that a mirror-less camera was planned, only for it to be cancelled. There are apparently some within Sony who want the console to cost less (and thus sell at a loss) or cost as much as the Xbox Series X. However, are looking for it to make a profit right away. For now, how Microsoft prices its console will be key to the PS5’s pricing.
Interestingly, Bloomberg also reported that titles launching for the PS5 will also be available on PS4. Hints towards certain cross-generation titles? The PS5 launches in holiday 2020 so stay tuned for more details.
