PS6 Delay May Not Cut Costs as Price Estimate Climbs Toward $1000

Delaying the PlayStation 6 may not make Sony’s next console any cheaper, according to a new estimate from AMD leaker Kepler_L2. The latest bill of materials estimate has climbed close to $1,000, roughly $200 higher than the figure shared earlier this year. Rising memory and storage costs are believed to be the biggest reason behind the increase, raising new questions about how much the PS6 could cost at launch.

A bill of materials, often called a BOM, is the estimated cost of producing the console before expenses such as packaging, shipping, marketing, retailer margins, and taxes are added. It does not represent the final retail price, but it provides a good indication of how expensive the hardware could be to manufacture.

Earlier this year, Kepler_L2 estimated the PlayStation 6 bill of materials at around $760. At that time, many expected Sony could price the console close to $699 while absorbing part of the production cost. The revised estimate paints a different picture if component prices remain high.

Previous leaks suggest the PlayStation 6 could feature 30GB of GDDR7 memory and a 1TB SSD. Both components are expected to cost more than the GDDR6 memory and storage used in the PlayStation 5. GDDR7 delivers higher bandwidth, but it is still a newer memory standard and remains more expensive to produce.

Memory prices continue to rise across the semiconductor industry. Growing demand from AI servers, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise hardware has increased the cost of DRAM and NAND flash. Industry reports indicate these prices may remain elevated for several years, making future gaming hardware more expensive to build.

According to Kepler_L2, delaying the PlayStation 6 would not necessarily reduce manufacturing costs. If memory prices continue to increase, Sony could end up paying even more to build the console. If component prices fall after launch, the company would still have the option to reduce the retail price later instead of delaying the product.

The leaker has previously shared information about Sony’s custom AMD “Orion” processor and believes development has already reached a point where meaningful hardware changes are unlikely. Waiting longer would not automatically result in a faster or more capable console because much of the hardware design is believed to be finalized.

Based on the latest estimate, Kepler_L2 believes a digital-only PlayStation 6 could be priced around $999 while Sony absorbs part of the production cost. Sony has followed a similar business model before, accepting lower profit on console hardware during the early years of a generation and recovering those costs through game sales, PlayStation Plus subscriptions, accessories, and digital purchases.

Sony adopted a similar approach with the PlayStation 3, which debuted at $599 in 2006. At the time, it was the company’s most expensive console. As manufacturing costs declined, Sony gradually reduced the retail price over the following years.

Higher component costs are affecting more than PlayStation. Valve recently introduced its Steam Machine with a starting price above $1,000, while Microsoft has increased Xbox console prices in several regions. Those price increases show that gaming hardware is becoming more expensive across the industry.

Sony has not announced the PlayStation 6, its hardware specifications, pricing, or release schedule. The latest figures come from estimates shared by Kepler_L2 and remain unconfirmed until Sony provides official information. Even so, rising memory and storage costs are expected to play an important role in the pricing of next-generation gaming consoles.

Source: KeplerL2@NeoGaf forums (1)