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Bloomberg is reporting that Sony is facing cost challenges in the construction of the PlayStation 5 - and the chances of a $399 console are receding. So what *are* the challenges in creating the next generation of console hardware - and are we looking at a $500 console?

The cost of PlayStation 5: are we looking at a $500 console?

A recent report from Bloomberg has attracted a lot of headlines - the suggestion is that Sony is struggling to control …

www.eurogamer.net

A recent report from Bloomberg has attracted a lot of headlines - the suggestion is that Sony is struggling to control construction costs for the PlayStation 5 and that the $399 pricing sweet spot enjoyed by both PS4 and PS4 Pro may be out of reach for the next-gen system. Bloomberg says that the current cost for building the machine is around $450, suggesting that a retail price of at least $470 is likely - but is the analysis accurate? Will the next generation consoles really be more expensive at launch than their current-gen equivalents?

 

[Imtjnotu]

did anyone honestly see a $399 console?

 

[SebastianM]

fuck $399 consoles, that shit gimps an entire generation.

 

[mitch1971]

500 or I don't buy.

 

[Abriael_GN]

Oh look, speculation based on shaky sources.

At least they question Bloomberg's trash, which makes this not as bad as it could be.

 

[michaelius]

Looks like Sony marketing has half their work done for them completely for free.
Stay silent while all the rumours about $500 price tag run around preparing people for price annoucement.

Then if they say it's 500$ most of people will expect it and if they go lower they will get standing ovations for nothing

 

[PropellerEar]

Won't watch the video, I don't want to add views for DF.
Bring it... 500$ is day one.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

did anyone honestly see a $399 console?

judging from some angry/snarky replies in a couple of the next gen megathreads, it seems like a lot of people still cling to “399 or DOA.”

Im expecting 599 and hoping for 499. I don’t understand how it’s even possible for either of them to cost 399 unless being sold at a HUGE loss. I feel like it’s unreasonable to expect to mid-range gaming PC power for less than half of the price. I don’t care if it’s mobile equivalents

 

[Gamernyc78]

Regurgitated bs we've all said a billion tlmes. Yes!!!! These consoles will be around 500.

 

[sinnergy]

Looks like 399 is on the table because of digital sales ! Game Pass just secured a 399 price tag possibility for Series X.

 

[hunthunt]

The meltdows with this console will be something not seen in this world since Chernobyl.

I just cant wait for december 2020

 

[Fake]

Article is up. Op updated.

 

[Psykodad]

did anyone honestly see a $399 console?

It"s more concern trolling.

For more than a year everybody was expecting at least a $500 console.

 

[Gamernyc78]

It"s more concern trolling.

For more than a year everybody was expecting at least a $500 console.

Yeah ppl just like to talk to talk and push diff narratives. If these consoles have these specs, at this price let's be grateful. Many thought we were getting alot worse.

 

[ethomaz]

Looks like Sony marketing has half their work done for them completely for free.
Stay silent while all the rumours about $500 price tag run around preparing people for price annoucement.

Then if they say it's 500$ most of people will expect it and if they go lower they will get standing ovations for nothing

That is how you do big reveal surprises.
You stay quiet and let the competition and press says anything they want.
You late reveal and BOOOM!!!
Make fun of all these speculations lol

You start to get articles saying how Sony surprised them, etc, etc.

 

[Gamernyc78]

The rumors, the rage, the fake negative articles, the amount of ppl tht want to explode bcus Sony isn't sharing info is insane!! Sony is doing well. All eyes on psv and thts not cappin.

 

[Bolivar687]

That is how you do big reveal surprises.
You stay quiet and let the competition and press says anything they want.
You late reveal and BOOOM!!!
Make fun of all these speculations lol

You start to get articles saying how Sony surprised them, etc, etc.

Last time, they totally let people speculate that Sony would have an always-online policy, and maybe even intentionally played into it a little, at least with their silence.

I actually would be surprised to see $500 because Sony knows better than anyone else in the business how contentious price is with the community, and they've been on on both the winning and losing side of that. $450 seems like the sweet spot this time around to me.

 

[01011001]

That is how you do big reveal surprises.
You stay quiet and let the competition and press says anything they want.
You late reveal and BOOOM!!!
Make fun of all these speculations lol

You start to get articles saying how Sony surprised them, etc, etc.

well this only works if the price is the expected one or lower...
imagine when back when the PS3 was revealed therer were strong rumours going around about how expensive the PS3 will be at $400! and everyone went "well that's expensive but it will be powerful I bet" and then Sony came out with the $600 price tag... that price was already not very popular but with lower prices being rumored for a year that people already found a bit high, it would have gone down a lot worse still

 

[Moneal]

It"s more concern trolling.

For more than a year everybody was expecting at least a $500 console.

Its not concern trolling. Its looking the market history. $299 is the sweet spot for mid-gen purchasers. There is no way PS5 or XSX are getting down to that by year 3 if they are $499 to start. Only 2 consoles have gotten down to that from $500+. Both the PS3 and XBox One had to remove hardware to get down to that price by year 3. The ones that didn't did not see any mass market success. Sure you can bring up inflation, but the average lower end consumer doesn't give a shit about inflation. They see the price tag for better tech 5 years later being cheaper in other areas and expect it. Compare Lower end 1080p TV from 2015 to a low end 4k TV today. The 4k tv is probably costs less than the 1080p TV did. That's what the non-early adopters expect. Better tech at the same or lower price compared to the past.

 

[Virex]

Oh look, speculation based on shaky sources.

At least they question Bloomberg's trash, which makes this not as bad as it could be.

They need the clicks

 

[SleepDoctor]

More speculation bs. Oh look its "df direct"..... more like straight bullshit. Just cuz they have a platform, it doesn't make their opinion anymore true than anyone else here. No clicks from me.

If people are bitching over a $500 price or even $600, you really need to set other priorities first besides a console.

My only concern is it better more power, not half assed like the pro was, only so they can sell us another "pro" in 3 years.

 

[ethomaz]

well this only works if the price is the expected one or lower...
imagine when back when the PS3 was revealed therer were strong rumours going around about how expensive the PS3 will be at $400! and everyone went "well that's expensive but it will be powerful I bet" and then Sony came out with the $600 price tag... that price was already not very popular but with lower prices being rumored for a year that people already found a bit high, it would have gone down a lot worse still

In that case Sony should reveal the price as early as possible to make the market get used to it.

Example:

- PS3 price was revealed before E3 so at E3 the market were already used to the price and could focus in games and plans for PS3... bad price.

- PS4 price was key strategy surprise for their E3... good price.

Now for PS5 they won’t be at E3 so they will reveal the price in the next month if bad or after June if good.
That is of course my opinion.

I trend to believe more you hold a reveal more surprising good it is... of course there is exceptions but the business book says that if something is bad try to reveal it as faster as possible with the minimum buzz behind it (no big event for a bad price reveal) and if possible with tremendously good news revealed together... talk the very minimum about the bad reveal and focus everything in the good reveals.

In others words if you have a bad price to reveal spin focusing in what you will delivery that consumers are high excited to hear about.

 

[Psykodad]

Its not concern trolling. Its looking the market history. $299 is the sweet spot for mid-gen purchasers. There is no way PS5 or XSX are getting down to that by year 3 if they are $499 to start. Only 2 consoles have gotten down to that from $500+. Both the PS3 and XBox One had to remove hardware to get down to that price by year 3. The ones that didn't did not see any mass market success. Sure you can bring up inflation, but the average lower end consumer doesn't give a shit about inflation. They see the price tag for better tech 5 years later being cheaper in other areas and expect it. Compare Lower end 1080p TV from 2015 to a low end 4k TV today. The 4k tv is probably costs less than the 1080p TV did. That's what the non-early adopters expect. Better tech at the same or lower price compared to the past.

Yes, non-early adapters. That's self-explanatory.

At launch, it's about the early adopters, which are mostly people who keep up with all the news and rumors.

You can hardly argue that those people haven't been expecting this price-range for a quite some time.

 

[Romulus]

What cheapskate would want a $399 console in 2020 after seeing how ginped ps4 was? That was 2013, in 2020 $399 means Sony has nearly $50 less room for parts for PS5. Inflation is real.

In fact, with a $499 console in 2020 I am really curious how they can even come close to having a powerful machine. X1X was $499 and had a gimped CPU. Theres just not much room at $499 with these 9tf+ numbers and gaming CPU(even underclocked).

I honestly think $549 is a great value price for a moderately powerful machine. They might lose a little money but not much. I don"t know how they'll keep these new neckbeards happy, they want all the power so they can argue on forums, but they cry about spending $100-150 more on making a product better that they'll use for 7 years.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

if you complain about not being able to afford a 500-600$ console then you deserve to game on your smartphone.

 

[Krappadizzle]

Very unlikely I'll buy either of the consoles at launch if they are $500. Not that I can't afford it, but I'll bet that I'll get a 3080ti this year(or whatever they call it) and it'll make having either one kinda pointless. I think I'll wait for whatever "Pro" models launch in a few years and just reap the benefits from their on with the consoles. Strange though, as I've been in line for new console releases for every gen for the last 25ish years.

 

[ethomaz]

if you complain about not being able to afford a 500-600$ console then you deserve to game on your smartphone.

Well I have a cruel truth to say about gaming on smartphones

 

[NickFire]

At this point a higher price is extremely unlikely to lead to materially better specs IMO, because most components must be locked in for pending production. So based off the rumored 450 production cost, I think we will get 399 for the reason DF said. Sony has a lot more profit from digital everything to offset the loss.

 

[Dabaus]

500 dollars is fine if the specs are in line the the series x give or take a teraflop. But 9 vs. 12 for the same price? Thats asking alot. If sony shot for a 399 price point and the specs reflect that but in the end still cost them 500 then that is a big time screw up on their part. Its not at PS3 599 hard to program for, losing all your exclusive third parties or xbox one reveal levels of screw up, but its not the PR they want or need at the beginning of a new console cycle. Especially with lockheart in the background.

Sony done Goofed. Thats why their hiding the PS5 as much as they are. No one way to spin what they have. The 399 price point put them in a box and MS just out smarted them. Damn shame too.

 

[magnumpy]

man it's good that they delayed the launch. could you imagine if this console was trying to launch back in 2019? if anything I'd say delay it another year

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

Yeah, probably. Ain't nothing wrong with that, new tech ain't cheap.

If $500 is too rich for your blood, wait it out, that price will come down in time.

 

[Romulus]

At this point a higher price is extremely unlikely to lead to materially better specs IMO, because most components must be locked in for pending production. So based off the rumored 450 production cost, I think we will get 399 for the reason DF said. Sony has a lot more profit from digital everything to offset the loss.

That production cost is either bullshit or the ps5 is really, really weak. The ps4 was $381 cost and we need a SSD and 4k bluray for ps5. That alone is at least $100 cost for both at an absolute throwaway price. Then you have to factor in that the CPU and GPU are inline with ps4s 2013 standards. We already know the CPU is leagues better. There's just no way unless they want to take a massive loss on each or the GPU is not what we thought.

 

[Investor9872]

Yeah, probably. Ain't nothing wrong with that, new tech ain't cheap.

If $500 is too rich for your blood, wait it out, that price will come down in time.

People will complain to oblivion, and they will still go out and buy the PS5 at $500 day-1, then go home, come on Neogaf, Reddit, Twitter to complain some more!

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

People will complain to oblivion, and they will still go out and buy the PS5 at $500 day-1, then go home, come on Neogaf, Reddit, Twitter to complain some more!

I miss the days of launch $199/$299 consoles just as much as anywhere else, but inflation plus the cost of tech means that shit's expensive. I guess the best solace anyone can take is that a day one purchase at $500 will get you at least seven years of usage, if the last two generations are anything to go by.

 

[Shin]

did anyone honestly see a $399 console?

The filthy casuals that platform holders have been catering to since the beginning of time.
They'll be like;

 

[MilkyJoe]

Wouldn't it be great if they were 800 with zero percent interest if you can't afford it. The 399 bollocks would ruin another generation.

 

[CyberPanda]

Wouldn't it be great if they were 800 with zero percent interest if you can't afford it. The 399 bollocks would ruin another generation.

I hope they aren't too expensive. People are having a tough time these days to even get food on the table.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Wouldn't it be great if they were 800 with zero percent interest if you can't afford it. The 399 bollocks would ruin another generation.

It's a fine line, I'm not sure why people in this thread are so quick to ignore that. Of course anyone that takes the time to post in a gaming board will have no issue paying $600+ for a console, but if you push too hard a lot of your audience won't follow. Every console manufacturer know they have to price it reasonably or it will inevitably bomb.

 

[chinoXL]

i see no problem with $500.. 3-400 will have limitations that will force a pro model, like these current horrible jaguar chips. looking forward to the new systems!!

 

[Elektro Demon]

What cheapskate would want a $399 console in 2020 after seeing how ginped ps4 was? Tetter that they'll use for 7 years.

It wasn't gimped because they had to use weaker parts. Amd really didn't have much to offer at the time.

 

[EverydayBeast]

SONY has to be efficient.

 

[Northeastmonk]

If its $470 then I want it at $469.99.

 

[bRacing]

It needs to be 500 based on parts, not 500 dollars based on the difficulty of getting parts due to Coronavirus.

 

[Investor9872]

If its $470 then I want it at $469.99.

You tell 'em, GM.

 

[01011001]

If its $470 then I want it at $469.99.

*$469.42

 

[Vlightray]

I honestly hope so a 1Tb SSD is costly but lets push the gen forward. I think this lines up with the reasoning of many games being cross-gen they easing the blow for those that cant afford the Ps5.

If you cant afford the Ps5 fortunately there is a console for you its called the Ps4.

 

[Smaller than Atom]

Maybe. Everyone gonna cry?

Day one.

 

[HeresJohnny]

We’ve seen what happens to $500 and up consoles. People can say what they want, but history shows any console priced above $400 doesn’t reach enough people to be mass market.

And Sony knows this better than any company.

 

[LostDonkey]

Ill pay five fiddy

 

[Toxictemplar]

Why are people freaking out over it being $500, just save up $5-15 a week until release day and you'll be set.