- A reliable insider says Sony is still selling PS5 consoles at a loss.
- While the PS5 briefly became profitable, rising manufacturing costs mean that only the PS5 Pro is sold at a profit by Sony.
- The Xbox Series X is also profitable following its price hike and latest SoC revision.
Console hardware is typically designed to balance costs with affordability, aiming to offer as much value as possible. A similar thought process went into designing the current-generation consoles, but this typically means that the hardware itself is sold at a loss.
According to a reliable insider, the PS5 is still being sold at a loss all these years later.
Why it matters: Consoles typically become cheaper to produce as the generation goes on. This means that companies end up profitting from the hardware as well, but this does not seem to be the case with Sony’s latest offerings.
It’s no secret that the PS5 was sold at a loss when it launched in 2020. However, Sony revealed that it had begun making a profit on the console not too long ago.
As per well known insider Kepler, this profit soon turned into a loss when prices of parts used for the PS5 went up. This included GDDR6 memory pricing and TSMC’s wafers used for manufacturing the console’s SoC.
Although Sony did slightly increase the price of the digital console to $450 with 2023’s Slim revision, the PS5 still appears to be sold at a loss for now. One reason for the loss likely has to do with Sony sticking with the same process node for the latest PS5’s SoC.
On the other hand, Kepler states that the PS5 Pro is slightly profitable at its $700 MSRP. He also states that the Xbox Series X is likely making a similar profit due to its smaller SoC and recent price hike.
Sony still eventually makes a lot of money on each PS5 sale through accessory and game sales, but this generation has certainly revealed an interesting trend. Nintendo has even raised prices for the nearly decade-old Switch recently, so Sony could end up following suit in pursuit of a profitable PS5.
What do you think about the PS5 still losing money nearly five years after its release? Let’s discuss in the comments and on the Tech4Gamers Forums.
Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋
How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔
[News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than three years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.