In a recent report from Bloomberg, we learned that the PS5 is already riddled with cost problems. The initial report is saying that the PlayStation console that is expected in the 2020 holiday season, the PlayStation 5, is seeing some production issues related to price. This is going to impact the PSVR 2 headset as well as any extra hardware Sony is planning on releasing within the year.
The biggest issue to Sony right now? The price of production of the DRAM and the NAND flash memory. Both are key parts to smart phones, and they are in high demand.
The reported cost of the PS5 production is $450 per unit. That is already higher than the retail price of the most expensive Sony console right now. If Sony is going to want to sell units, they’ll have to have a price that is near what Xbox is going to put out. Speculation is leading many to think that price will be near $400.
The PS4 costs $381 to make and is being sol for $400. If Sony wanted to maintain that same profit margin, they’ll need to sell the newest console near $470. This would be a hard number for early adopters to swallow and would lead to many either rolling with Xbox Series X or with the older Sony consoles.
It wouldn’t be the worst thing for Sony to sell the units at a loss though, as many executives at Sony don’t think it would be the end of the world. Most of the money made in the console gaming world isn’t from the selling of the hardware, but rather from the lucrative gaming subscriptions and online fees.
A place where some profit could be made? The PSVR 2 headset. The company doesn’t want to release the two septs of hardware too close, but the headset is nearly done already. This is because the consumers shouldn’t be “bombarded” with too much hardware at once. The Head of R&D at PlayStation, Dominic Mallinson, says that “From the point of view of the consumer, to be bombarded with many many things — oh, you have to buy this, you have to buy that — is a message that we don’t want to send,” Malinson said. “In some ways, it’s good to have a little breathing space between those things.”
This is the right approach, but it leaves little room for error with Xbox Series X on the horizon.
In the time between the new headset release and the PS5 release, the original PSVR headset is going to work perfectly. The older headset will be able to run all of the same games and have the same functionality on the newest Sony gaming console. The newest console will even have 100% backward compatibility with all PS4 games, something Xbox has yet to do for their customers. For more VR news and gaming updates, make sure to check back at VRGear.com.
