Sony’s $699.99 PS5 Pro could get especially expensive if prices go up.
Sony just announced its financial forecast for the next year, and it’s expecting to be impacted by tariffs to the tune of 100 billion yen (about $680 million). To compensate, the company says it’s considering options including moving manufacturing to the US and increasing prices for consumers.
Speaking to investors during the company’s earnings call, Sony CFO Lin Tao confirmed that the company is considering “passing on” the price of tariffs to consumers in order to mitigate the impact on its bottom line. Tao didn’t mention the PS5 by name though, and it’s possible that Sony could try to protect pricing on its console through increases elsewhere in its electronics business. Sony has already increased the price of the PS5 this year, but only in the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
The PS5 did get a call out from CEO Hiroki Totoki when discussing the possibility of moving manufacturing to the US to avoid the brunt of Donald Trump’s tariffs. He admitted that the console “can be produced locally,” and that it would be “an efficient strategy” that “has to be considered going forward.”
Over the 12 months ending in March, Sony shipped 18.5 million PS5 consoles — down slightly from 20.8 million the year before — bringing its lifetime shipments to 77.7 million.
Sony still manufactures the majority of its PS5 hardware in China, and so its gaming business is especially at risk right now. Even after the 90-day pause and reduction in rates announced this week, the 30 percent tariff on imports into the US from China is substantially higher than the 10 percent rate levied on other countries, and games consoles were not included in the exemptions for select other electronics. Microsoft has already raised the price of its Xbox consoles by up to $100, though Nintendo has so far elected to keep Switch 2 pricing the same ahead of its launch next month.
We may learn more about Sony’s pricing plans going forward when it announces the flagship WH-1000XM6 headphones tomorrow, which succeed the $399 XM5s.