Fortunately, Ampere Analysis’ Piers Harding-Rolls isn’t quite so convinced that console makers will succumb to crazy price tags.<\/p>\n
He argues that Valve’s situation is unlike that of Sony’s; the former is generally okay with shipping a niche device, while the latter knows that it has to appeal to a mass market. In short, the expectations are much different.<\/p>\n
“Sony has more scale than Valve and is better positioned in terms of supply chain accessibility through its entrenched relationships and broader electronics business,” he states.<\/p>\n
Still, Harding-Rolls does expect prices to increase, regardless of the “levers” that companies like Sony can utilise. He also suggests that the launch of next-gen consoles is “most likely to be at the end of 2028” because of “market disruption and other factors”.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Circana’s ever-informative Mat Piscatella warns that console costs will “possibly, even likely” surpass $1,000, purely because of the chaos that surrounds the industry and the wider world right now.<\/p>\n
“The future here is beyond cloudy,” he concludes. It’s not looking good, folks.<\/p>\n
And lastly, Newzoo’s Manu Rosier thinks Sony understands the value of keeping its console prices as low as possible \u2014 and so while the PS6 won’t be cheap by any stretch of the imagination, the “next-generation models are likely to hold under $999 for psychological and marketing reasons”.<\/p>\n
Rosier also mentions the potential of platform holders moving towards cheaper game streaming devices, but I’m not sure anyone wants to hear that argument right now!<\/p>\n
The bottom line here, then, is that the industry’s cooked. Even if the PS6 was delayed by a year or two, none of these analysts can see the component crisis going away, and so prices are going to jump regardless.<\/p>\n
How much would you pay for a PS6? Just stick with your PS5 in the comments section below.<\/p>\n