What just happened? Sony is considering increasing the price of its products, including the PlayStation 5, and moving manufacturing to the US due to the impact Trump's tariffs are having on its business. The company already raised the price of the PS5 in April for customers in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, but the new hikes would extend to other locations, including the US.
Sony has forecast an operating income of 1.38 trillion yen ($9.4 billion) for the current fiscal year. That's an 8% year-on-year increase, but there was a caveat: US tariffs on Chinese goods could reduce the figure by 100 billion yen, or around $680 million, which would leave profit growth flat.
Sony CFO Lin Tao said during an earnings call that the company may pass the 100-billion-yen shortfall onto customers through increased product prices. The PlayStation 5 wasn't mentioned by name, and there's always the possibility that Sony will try to keep the console's price point the same, but it did hike PS5 prices in some regions in April – though the PS5 Pro was unaffected.
As expected Sony is considering passing along the tarrif impact by increasing the price of their products. So it's assumed the PS5 price could be impacted. pic.twitter.com/a7nR1BZ9Rv
– Destin (@DestinLegarie) May 14, 2025
CEO Hiroki Totoki did mention the PS5, along with something that could please President Trump. Totoki said that manufacturing the console in the United States needs to be considered going forward as it would be an "efficient strategy." Trump has long said that the tariffs will convince companies to bring manufacturing back to US shores.
Sony's Hiroki Totoki is considering producing the PS5 in the United States due to the Tarrifs. "It needs to be considered going forward" pic.twitter.com/c1cEQIwXA4
– Destin (@DestinLegarie) May 14, 2025
China still builds the majority of PS5 hardware. The United States and China have mutually agreed to a 90-day pause on the tariffs, which had seen the US place a 145% tariff on imports from the country and China place a 125% tariff on US goods. But a 30% tariff on Chinese items coming into the US remains in place, and while some electronics are exempt, game consoles are not.
It has not been a good few weeks for console fans. Microsoft recently introduced hefty price hikes across its Xbox hardware and software lineup, citing market pressures and rising development costs, including an $80 to $130 increase for the Xbox Series S. And while the Switch 2 price has stayed the same, a $449 label is expensive to begin with.
