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Sony Group is raising global prices of its PlayStation 5 consoles, including a $100 increase in the US, marking the second increase in less than a year, as the Japanese company struggles with rising costs of key components such as memory chips.
The tech industry’s race to build out artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure has pushed chipmakers to favor higher-margin data center chips, shrinking the supply for consumer devices.
The updated US prices, effective April 2, bring the standard PS5 to $649.99, up from $549.99. The Digital Edition now costs $599.99, while the high-end PS5 Pro costs $899.99.
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Sony is raising the price of its PS5 console by $100 in the US this week, citing a shortage of memory chips. (Jim Vondruska/Reuters)
PlayStation Portal Remote prices will also increase from $199.99 to $249.99.
Similar increases will come into effect across Europe and Japan, following what the company described as a “careful review” of rising cost pressures in global supply chains.
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Sony last increased the price of its PS5 console by $50 last year. (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Analysts have said console price increases are likely to dampen growth in the video game market this year.
“Fortnite” maker Epic Games also cited slow console sales as one of the reasons for the 1,000 job cuts it announced earlier this week.
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| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SONY | SONY GROUP CORP. | 19.92 | +0.01 |
+0.05% |
| MSFT | MICROSOFT CORP. | 358.96 | +2.19 |
+0.61% |
In the key holiday quarter of October to December, sales of Sony’s PlayStation 5 fell 16% from a year earlier to 8 million units. The console has been on the market for about six years.
Sony last increased PS5 prices by around $50 in the US in August last year. Microsoft also raised the prices of its console, the Xbox, in 2025.
Rising demand for AI chips prompted Elon Musk to announce plans for two of his companies, Tesla and SpaceX, to collaborate on an advanced AI chip manufacturing facility.
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He said the so-called “Terafab” will have two facilities: one focused on AI chips for Tesla’s electric vehicles and Optimus humanoid robots; while the other will focus on AI chips for space-based data centers made by SpaceX.
“Either we build the Terafab or we don’t have the chips,” Musk said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
