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Analyst predicts PS5 price increase ‘will have minimal impact on sales’

Woggleman

Member
PS5s will keep selling and if the sales go down so will the prices. I don't like it but any company will charge what people are willing to pay.
 
All of this is wrong.


Once it hits (insert adjusted price) it will not go down unless Xbox severely impacts Sony's sales. It is the way of price increases.


I wish you guys would stop postulating. Just once :)


I'm now a page behind but I get hit with probably 20 MFGR price increases a month, easily. Sony is not going to suck that up as I'm sure they are selling at a 12-15% profit margin and banking on residuals on game sales.


But ya know. Fire on and tell me what I'm wrong about.
I'll quote myself just once all.


What none of you think about...


*increased wages to remain competitive.

*logistics

*insurance/unemployment insurance

*Material tax on inventory for a for profit company.

*Cellular/Data expenses


Etc.


Just saying guy. If you make 22 and hour you're really making 45.

I know about FC and China but at some point it's hitting US soil. Hence the specific no PI in US comment essentially.


That's all. Proceed, team.
 

Rykan

Member
People spent 2 years buying from scalpers at even higher prices than a 50€ bump. Of course they won't see a decrease in sales.

I don't think anyone is even thinking this.
Take a look at the other thread. The amount of people declaring Sony as Insane for doing this is unreal.
 

Wohc

Banned
It doesn't matter for those people who already overpay them on Ebay. It matters for people who really have to save the money for months to buy a console. For example pupils, students, single parents or single-earner families, unemployed people and so on. For some people 50 bucks is nothing, for others 50 bucks are days of food.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
It doesn't matter for those people who already overpay them on Ebay. It matters for people who really have to save the money for months to buy a console. For example pupils, students, single parents or single-earner families, unemployed people and so on. For some people 50 bucks is nothing, for others 50 bucks are days of food.

Ok, but it has been said many times before and it simply the truth: If $50 means sacrificing "days of food" then probably shouldn't be buying a video game console at all. Sony should be criticized for jacking up the price for a number of reasons, but gouging the poor isn't one of them, imo. Video games are not a necessity.
 

Amiga

Member
Probably increase actual activation rate a bit as more direct consumers can find them at stores and scalping becomes less attractive.
 

Wohc

Banned
Ok, but it has been said many times before and it simply the truth: If $50 means sacrificing "days of food" then probably shouldn't be buying a video game console at all. Sony should be criticized for jacking up the price for a number of reasons, but gouging the poor isn't one of them, imo. Video games are not a necessity.
Economy would collapse if only people who can really afford it buy stuff. That's why financing, leasing, mobile phone contracts or the Xbox All Access programm and so on exist. Poor people also want nice things. Hell, i've even seen homeless with iPhones. The food was just an extreme example, but many people have to save for months in order to buy a 500 bucks toy.
 

yurinka

Member
Ampere Analysis is always biased. They love PlayStation.
In a comparision they did about game subs they didn't include first and most successful one (which is from Sony) because it did break their 'Gamepass is dominating' narrative and also ignored and didn't consider for that comparision that PS Now and Plus were going to be merged a few weeks after they published it.

Do you have any specific example of them having a Sony bias?

What is mentioned in the OP is common sense: until now each new batch of PS5s got sold out in minutes, even if they only shipped console bundles and not isolated consoles and there are signs of a huge demand. So a 10% price increase shouldn't affect it sales, maximum new batches will take a bit longer to sell out.
 
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Drewpee

Banned
Obviously. People have been paying way over MSRP already.

These companies aren't dumb. They have analytic experts to have a good idea how this would pan out.

But, still, I bet Sony is happy Meta went first and with a much steeper increase.

They honestly should increase it worldwide, including the US.
It's so weird to see consumers abvocating for a price increase. Speaks so much to the power Sony has in the gaming market and over their fans.

Inflation has an equal impact to consumers and businesses. A company like Sony has a choice to eat the cost and build good will in the community or do what they did.
 
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reinking

Gold Member
So many apologists in this thread. This is the reason we will always get cucked as gamers (even though $50 is nothing, this will only help them validate their already oversized egos and wallets). Someone even called this a "luxury item" when the competitor has a better overall ecosystem and cost basis at the moment. Good luck to all of you paying $699 for the next Sony Console.
I agree to a point but this IS a luxuary item and the market will dictate the price. Simple as that.
 

Topher

Gold Member
Economy would collapse if only people who can really afford it buy stuff. That's why financing, leasing, mobile phone contracts or the Xbox All Access programm and so on exist. Poor people also want nice things. Hell, i've even seen homeless with iPhones. The food was just an extreme example, but many people have to save for months in order to buy a 500 bucks toy.

A $50 cheaper option exists with XSX and even a $250 cheaper option with XSS so this whole narrative is irrelevant.
 
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People are, for some reason, desperate to get hold of a Playstation 5 so yeah I agree. While that price hike is not welcome it's not going to stop people. If you can't afford £480 then you can't afford £450 in the first place.

Maybe when the prices are raised again next year and will go well beyond £500...
 
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Wohc

Banned
A $50 cheaper option exists with XSX and even a $250 cheaper option with XSS so this whole narrative is irrelevant.
Doesn't help you if all your friends got a PS, you are a huge PS fan or you already have built a PS library over the years. Luckily i don't mind if i pay 500 or 550 for a luxury product and i don't know any people that have to, but I'm well aware that there are lots of people who have to care about 50 bucks. I'm not blaming Sony for the raise, i'm blaming people who can't see or undertand that 50 bucks can be serios money to lots of people.
 
It's so weird to see consumers abvocating for a price increase. Speaks so much to the power Sony has in the gaming market and over their fans.

Inflation has an equal impact to consumers and businesses. A company like Sony has a choice to eat the cost and build good will in the community or do what they did.
The discussion was whether it is a good business decision or not, not whether it's the "right" thing to do.

They have analysts to determine what makes business sense. You can hope that you world boycotts Sony to stick it to them for raising the price 5 to 10 percent in certain regions, but that doesn't matter. Companies will do what makes financial sense.
 

Topher

Gold Member
Doesn't help you if all your friends got a PS, you are a huge PS fan or you already have built a PS library over the years. Luckily i don't mind if i pay 500 or 550 for a luxury product and i don't know any people that have to, but I'm well aware that there are lots of people who have to care about 50 bucks. I'm not blaming Sony for the raise, i'm blaming people who can't see or undertand that 50 bucks can be serios money to lots of people.

Now you are talking about massive PS fans who have built a PS library "over the years"? No, nothing you are describing sounds to me like people who are going to be impacted by this at all. And sorry, but if $50 is "serious money" then gaming probably shouldn't be a priority in life. I know when I was starting out on my own the thought of a gaming system was a dream and I had to wait until I made more money. This isn't a new concept and people are not entitled to video game consoles.
 

jimmypython

Member
I’m sure Sony has done extensive market research and modelling on the revenue impact before making these kind of decisions (increase or decrease prices)…
 

JackMcGunns

Member
dumb-and-dumber-comedy.gif
 

Topher

Gold Member
We are spinning in circles and sorry but that's just arrogant and unworldly. We won't agree on this one

Nah, it is neither arrogant and certainly not "unworldly". Video gaming is an expensive hobby. We live in a world where inflation is driving up the price of basic necessities and trying to drag the poor into a discussion about $50 increase on a $500 "toy" is incredibly out of touch, imo. So no we absolutely won't agree.
 

Drewpee

Banned
The discussion was whether it is a good business decision or not, not whether it's the "right" thing to do.

They have analysts to determine what makes business sense. You can hope that you world boycotts Sony to stick it to them for raising the price 5 to 10 percent in certain regions, but that doesn't matter. Companies will do what makes financial sense.
I didn't argue if it was the "right" thing to do, just an observation regarding the intense support Sony receives no matter what they might do. It's more a comment about human nature than it is the business. The fact that we have blind loyalty to a box to the point that we support a company over our own interests is just super interesting.

We see it with companies like Apple as well so it's not unique to gaming. It just seems so self defeating at times.
 
I didn't argue if it was the "right" thing to do, just an observation regarding the intense support Sony receives no matter what they might do. It's more a comment about human nature than it is the business. The fact that we have blind loyalty to a box to the point that we support a company over our own interests is just super interesting.

We see it with companies like Apple as well so it's not unique to gaming. It just seems so self defeating at times.
I support PlayStation because they make the product (games) I want. There's nothing blind about it.
 
Come on Jack, that's wrong and you know it.

its so nerdy i would feel embarassed to even mention it to my friends. these people dont give a shit about gaming news or whats going on the industry. these things are known and discussed only by hardcore gamers like us. the casuals have no idea about any of these things. most of them couldnt even name the developers of the games they play.
 
Ok, but it has been said many times before and it simply the truth: If $50 means sacrificing "days of food" then probably shouldn't be buying a video game console at all. Sony should be criticized for jacking up the price for a number of reasons, but gouging the poor isn't one of them, imo. Video games are not a necessity.
i mean if your buying a console cause you wanted to play a game at release like gow then budgeting for it makes sense. also in some regions its not just a 50$ increase but a 100$ increase thats not insignifcant
 
10% is pretty substantial..... Is it going to make them lose to Xbox or anything? Obviously not, but somebody on the fence sees PS5 being $50 more expensive than a Series X a lot of them are going to choose the Series X, or even go for a Switch and Series S for about the same price. And some people might just stay on PS4, especially in these economic times, people in Europe are about to pay astronomical heating bills in a couple months so making it even less affordable isn't going to help
 
10% is pretty substantial..... Is it going to make them lose to Xbox or anything? Obviously not, but somebody on the fence sees PS5 being $50 more expensive than a Series X a lot of them are going to choose the Series X, or even go for a Switch and Series S for about the same price. And some people might just stay on PS4, especially in these economic times, people in Europe are about to pay astronomical heating bills in a couple months so making it even less affordable isn't going to help

That's not how this works

A customer that wants to play God of War: Ragnarok cannot do so by buying an Xbox Series X for $50 cheaper.
 

Rac3r

Member
It's too simple minded to think they raised the price just because they didn't want to eat production costs in the short-term. Obviously that may be part of the reason, but there's way more to it. This probably gives them more leverage for pricing on Slim and Pro models, as well as PSVR2. Imagine if the economy stabilizes and they release a $299-349 slim model by 2023-24. That type of pricing would mitigate any PR blowback. It's a long-term strategy that won't affect their short-term sales due to overwhelming demand (despite the price hike).

I will say I was surprised that they increased the price in Japan and don't really agree with that decision, especially since the Japanese have been getting shafted by stock allocation and it's the console's home market. I game with a few Japanese people, and on Discord they were telling me how they think it's a "miscalculation" on Sony's part.
 
That's not how this works

A customer that wants to play God of War: Ragnarok cannot do so by buying an Xbox Series X for $50 cheaper.
You vastly overestimate the number of people who buy consoles for exclusives. Also believe it or not Xbox has enticing upcoming exclusives too, if they're torn between starfield and God of war and then one console is $50 cheaper you don't think that would influence their decision? Or do you just think that there's no possible way that somebody could be as excited for an Xbox exclusive?
 
I will say I was surprised that they increased the price in Japan and don't really agree with that decision, especially since the Japanese have been getting shafted by stock allocation and it's the console's home market. I game with a few Japanese people, and on Discord they were telling me how they think it's a "miscalculation" on Sony's part.

The reality is that the Japanese userbase for Sony isn't all that important and the Yen has had one of the worst depreciations lately.
 
You vastly overestimate the number of people who buy consoles for exclusives. Also believe it or not Xbox has enticing upcoming exclusives too, if they're torn between starfield and God of war and then one console is $50 cheaper you don't think that would influence their decision? Or do you just think that there's no possible way that somebody could be as excited for an Xbox exclusive?

I think a lot of people do buy consoles for exclusives, given the sales numbers of GoW, TLOU, GOT, Spider-Man, etc. It's a huge factor in why Sony sells 2:1 vs Xbox, generally speaking. Especially in a place like Europe where those single player type games find more attraction

The excitement factor for Xbox exclusives is decidedly less, I don't think I need to really go into detail about why. That could change in the future depending on how much MS wants to flex their new acquisitions, or if they manage to turn around their less performant studios.
 
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lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
You vastly overestimate the number of people who buy consoles for exclusives. Also believe it or not Xbox has enticing upcoming exclusives too, if they're torn between starfield and God of war and then one console is $50 cheaper you don't think that would influence their decision? Or do you just think that there's no possible way that somebody could be as excited for an Xbox exclusive?
I think its harder to switch platform when you have legacy games on your previous gen consoles.
 

Kagey K

Banned
I think its harder to switch platform when you have legacy games on your previous gen consoles.
Gamepass and PS+ extra help offset that consideration.

Foe most ppl those libraries are going to be larger than the number of games they own.
 
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Wohc

Banned
I think a lot of people do buy consoles for exclusives, given the sales numbers of GoW, TLOU, GOT, Spider-Man, etc. It's a huge factor in why Sony sells 2:1 vs Xbox, generally speaking. Especially in a place like Europe where those single player type games find more attraction
This poll with >50k people is approximately how i also think it is:


PS2/Xbox ended up >6:1. How could PS3/360 end up almost 1:1 with Sony holding all the trumps? Because Microsoft had lots of great exclusives and Sony had no or just bad exclusives? Because 399 vs. 499 Dollar (and PS3 was late).

How could PS4/One end up 2:1 coming from a 1:1 gen and when Microsoft even had more launch exclusives? Because 399 vs. 499 Dollar (and bad marketing). Sony already lead by 2:1 long before they released a noteworthy AAA with good sales.
 
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Kagey K

Banned
This poll with >50k people is approximately how i also think it is:


PS2/Xbox ended up >6:1. How could PS3/360 end up almost 1:1 with Sony holding all the trumps? Because Microsoft had lots of great exclusives and Sony had no or just bad exclusives? Because 399 vs. 499 Dollar (and PS3 was late).

How could PS4/One end up 2:1 coming from a 1:1 gen and when Microsoft even had more launch exclusives? Because 399 vs. 499 Dollar (and bad marketing). Sony already lead by 2:1 long before they released a noteworthy AAA with good sales.

Just wait, the inflation squeeze hadn't even really hit us yet.

Next year when they are saying it's only 5% yoy ppl will be realizing that's 14% in 2 years and household budgets will have to change.

That 50.00 will feel like a lot more, even when it's worth less.
 
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