Sony Weighs PS5 Price Hike Due to $685M Tariff Impact

Sony has announced it is contemplating price increases due to the significant impact of tariffs on its operations. In its financial results for the year ending March 2025, and during a subsequent investor-focused Q&A session, Sony's executives elaborated on how Trump's tariffs are affecting the company.

Chief Financial Officer Lin Tao revealed that tariffs could cost Sony up to 100 billion yen (approximately $685 million), given the current announced tariffs. This impact is particularly felt due to Sony's extensive involvement in hardware manufacturing, including video game consoles like the PlayStation 5.

Tao hinted that Sony might transfer some of these costs to its hardware prices, which could affect the PS5. He stated, "In terms of the tariff, we are not just simply calculating the simple tariff to come up with 100 billion yen, but thinking about the currently available information, and also looking at the market trend, we may pass on to the price, and also shipment allocation. So we are taking different measures in managing to come up to the 100 billion yen impact."

Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki addressed the PlayStation specifically, suggesting that producing consoles in the U.S. could help mitigate the tariff impact. He remarked, "These hardware of course can be produced locally. I think that would be an efficient strategy. But PS5 is being manufactured in many areas. Whether it’s going to be manufactured in the U.S. or not, it needs to be considered going forward. We are not in such a critical situation."

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

Analysts have shared with IGN their expectations that Sony might follow Nintendo and Microsoft in raising game prices to $80. There's also speculation that the PS5 family of consoles, particularly the PS5 Pro, could see a price hike. This anticipation has prompted some consumers to purchase the console preemptively.

Daniel Ahmad, director of research and insights at Niko Partners, noted that Sony has already increased console prices in regions outside the U.S. He said, "Sony has raised the price of its console multiple times outside the U.S. There is a reluctance from both Sony and Microsoft to raise prices in the U.S. given the size and importance of the market when it comes to console sales. That being said, we would not be surprised to see Sony follow suit with price increases on the PS5 in the U.S."

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View 14 ImagesJames McWhirter, senior analyst at Omdia, added, "PS5 hardware is predominantly manufactured in China, exposing Sony's supply chain to greater risk from tariffs originating from the U.S. Yet what we consistently observe in the console market is that up to half of consoles are typically sold during Q4, the final quarter of the year. This bought both Microsoft and Sony more time to rely on existing inventories. In 2019, consoles were granted an exemption from tariffs on goods from China, but this ruling did not come into effect until August.

"With Microsoft having blinked first with price readjustments this week, it now opens the door for Sony to follow with PS5. This is going to be a particularly tough decision in the U.S., the world's largest console market, which has historically been spared — save for PS5 Digital rising by $50 in late 2023."