Report: Sony struggling with PS5 costs, price point uncertain

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.