The continued inflation of consumer prices for technology, combined with new statements from Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki, have led to speculation that the PlayStation 5 will see a price increase this year. However, analysts are not willing to comment on these rumors.
PS5 isn't getting a price hike in the US, but why? – IGN Games Fix
As manufacturers grapple with the ongoing semiconductor shortage, consumers have been faced with both supply chain issues and inflated price tags in the first half of 2022. Things are slowly starting to recover, but as the recent price hike for the Meta Quest 2 shows, we’re not there yet. Comments from Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki only added fuel to the fire, as the exec answered a shareholder question about a potential PS5 price hike by stating that “there’s nothing specific [he] can share… regarding pricing.” It’s an ominous response, one that doesn’t seem like gamers have much to worry about.
"A console price increase during its lifecycle without a hardware change has never happened," Mark Methenitis, a video game industry analyst and advocate, told Lifewire via Twitter. "It seems extremely unlikely that Sony would want to be the lone outlier."
Unlike the VR-dominating Meta Quest 2, the PlayStation 5 isn’t breaking any records. According to Benji-Sales, an independent games analyst, PlayStation’s profits fell 37 percent in the first quarter of 2022. This is due to a combination of factors (such as the ongoing supply shortage and disappointing game sales), but it all leads to the same conclusion: Sony simply can’t afford to raise prices.
