Sony has announced its financial forecast for next year, and expects US tariffs to affect it by 100 billion yen (about $680 million). To offset this, the company says it is considering options including moving production to the US and raising prices for consumers, UNN writes with reference to The Verge.
Details
Speaking to investors during the company's earnings conference, Sony CFO Lin Tao confirmed that the company is considering "passing on" the price of tariffs to consumers to mitigate the impact on its net profit. However, Tao did not mention PS5 by name, and it is possible that Sony may try to protect the prices of its console by raising prices in other parts of its electronics business. Sony has already raised prices for PS5 this year, but only in the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
CEO Hiroki Totoki mentioned the PS5 when discussing the possibility of moving production to the US to avoid the main blow of Donald Trump's tariffs. He acknowledged that the console "can be produced locally" and that it would be an "effective strategy" that "needs to be considered in the future."
In the 12 months to March, Sony shipped 18.5 million PS5 consoles - slightly less than 20.8 million a year earlier - bringing total lifetime shipments to 77.7 million.
Sony still manufactures most of its PS5 hardware in China, and its gaming business is now particularly at risk. Even after the 90-day pause and rate cuts announced this week, the 30% tariff on imports to the US from China is significantly higher than the 10% rate charged to other countries, and gaming consoles were not included in the exemptions for some other electronic devices.
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Microsoft has already raised the price of its Xbox consoles by $100, although Nintendo has so far decided to keep the price of the Switch 2 the same ahead of its launch next month.