After the shortage, here is the rise in prices. The Japanese manufacturer of video game consoles Sony announced this Thursday an unprecedented and radical increase in the prices of its PlayStation 5 console, a device in chronic shortage since its release.
In France as in the rest of Europe, the PS5 in its digital version is now marketed at 449.99 euros against 400 euros previously. The model with the Ultra HD Blu-ray disc player goes to 549.99, also a dry increase of 49.99 euros. An unprecedented surge of 10%.
“Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price in certain markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific and Latin America as well as in Canada”, explains the Asian giant in a simple post on its official blog. Sony invokes “the need to increase prices because of the current economic environment and its impact on SIE’s revenues”.
The exchange rate also singled out
In its press release, Sony also mentions “unfavorable exchange rate trends”. And for good reason: the euro now costs less than a dollar, when it was still worth 1.18 a year ago (-15%). “The dollar appreciates because in times of uncertainty, with the war in Ukraine in particular, it becomes a safe haven,” explains Julien Marcilly, chief economist Global Sovereign Advisory. These trends are not observed only on the euro: the Canadian dollar has fallen by 13% over one year or the pound sterling by 14%.
Under these conditions, if a multinational exports without changing its prices, it loses money. “Inflation explains part of the increase, but it is easy to invoke to justify itself”, nuance Julien Pillot, professor of digital economy and strategy at the INSEEC business school.
“Sony is raising the price beyond its marginal cost of production and delivery and taking advantage of a windfall effect as there is still high demand for the PS5 from European gamers who will still buy it with 50 euros more and will not see the competition, the Xbox Series, ”analyzes the economist. “Transport costs from Asian factories are increasing for everyone, but prices are not soaring in the United States because Sony is facing competition from Microsoft consoles there,” he points out. .
With Le Parisien, Rémi Bourgeot, researcher at Iris, specialist in the economy, already confided in early July on a possible increase in the prices of other imported products: “We can imagine that the prices of MacBooks and iPhones will be reviewed up to compensate for the fall in the euro. »