- What if the prices for the PS5 and PS5 digital edition were much lower than the estimates? That’s what a poll asked fans.
- Some customers received Nielsen questionnaires proposing random prices for unreleased PlayStation 5 consoles, and the surveys were leaked online.
- It’s unclear what the surveys are for, but the suggested PS5 prices could translate into significant losses for Sony.
A few months ago we weren’t sure that the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will launch this holiday season, as the first phase of the new coronavirus pandemic halted manufacturing in China, as well as travel between continents. But as the months passed, both Sony and Microsoft made it clear that the PS5 and X-Series will meet their 2020 holiday launch window. Reports say consoles may be in short supply during the Christmas quarter. Microsoft publicly acknowledged that the COVID-19 health crisis will affect console sales, suggesting that it already represents lower-than-usual sales. But none of the companies is willing to share the key details that could make or break new PlayStation and Xbox models this fall: the price.
The rumors so far favor Microsoft, which is allegedly looking to undermine the PS5 with the X Series. Add to that the Xbox All Access program, and Microsoft has a huge advantage over Sony. Not to mention, the cheapest S Series console is said to start at just $ 200 at best. Meanwhile, the consensus on the PS5 is that the regular model will cost $ 499, or $ 100 more than the Digital Edition. But a poll just mentioned a PS5 price that’s too good to be true.
A Redditor posted the following screenshot, via NotebookCheck, which shows “random prices” for the PS5:
This is what that quote says, our emphasis:
As mentioned in the product description, The price of this new product (PlayStation 5) has not yet been determined. For the purposes of this survey, we will assign you random prices. Please note this random price in the following questions.
The random prices of this new product (PlayStation 5) that you will evaluate are PlayStation 5: £ 349; PlayStation 5 Digital Edition: £ 259.
Nielsen doesn’t know the price of the PS5, and is likely measuring user interest based on various price points that are apparently randomly assigned to respondents. But we can certainly speculate on these figures.
A £ 349 ($ 436) and £ 259 ($ 323) PS5 sound too good to be true. Could Sony afford to sell either of the two consoles so low without suffering a considerable loss? A report says that a few months ago, the PS5 could cost $ 450 to manufacture.
We will remind you that the UK takes VAT tax into account for all products, so the conversion to US dollars will not give you a real price for the US The original PS4 price was $ 399 tax free for the US and £ 349 with tax (or $ 436) for the UK. So a £ 349 PS5 could cost $ 399 in the US Sony would take at least a $ 50 loss on the regular version if that $ 450 BOM is accurate. The £ 259 PS5 digital edition could be priced at $ 299 in the US The loss in the digital edition would be even more significant. The two consoles are expected to contain exactly the same hardware configuration, except for the Blu-ray disc. Therefore, the main components, including the CPU, GPU, and custom SSD, would be just as expensive.
Factors such as the health crisis and Microsoft’s aggressive pricing strategy for Xbox could determine that Sony will surprise fans with a much lower price for PS5 consoles. But the above random price still seems too good to be true. Yes Digital Edition may somehow start at $ 299, the S Series could fetch as low as $ 199.
Both Sony and Microsoft are expected to announce official prices, pre-orders and release dates for the two consoles sometime in the coming months.
Chris Smith began writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it, he was sharing his views on technology topics with readers around the world. Every time you don’t write about devices, you unfortunately don’t stay away from them, even though you desperately try. But that is not necessarily a bad thing.
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