The PlayStation 5 is packed with some impressive innards. It supports 8K visuals, features a solid state drive, supports ray tracing, and more. This has led many to believe the PS5 will be pricier than its predecessor, the PS4. Reaffirming this belief, a leak from an anonymous European developer surfaced recently that claimed the PS5 will cost $500, which isn't a bad price-point, but half a grand is enough to make many wallets cry. However, one industry analyst believes the PS5 will only cost $400, the same price as the PS4.

According to Pelham Smithers, MD of market research firm Pelham Smithers Associates, which specializes in Japanese manufacturing, the PS5 will come packing an AMD Ryzen 3600G CPU. Why does Smithers think this? Well, from what Sony has said about the system, it will need to feature a 7nm 8-core Ryzen CPU that supports ray-tracing and some of the aforementioned features. This points at Sony using the AMD Ryzen 3600G, which was unveiled earlier this year at CES 2019. By the end of 2019, this specific CPU should retail between $180 and $220 per unit, which should keep the price down of the PS5 to $400.

Of course, a $400 price-point lines up better with what lead architect on the console, Mark Cerny, has said, which is that the PS5's price will be "appealing to gamers." $400 is certainly a lot more appealing than $500.

If Smithers' estimations are correct, then any price-point above $500 seems out of the question. It looks like it's going to be somewhere between $400-$500. If Sony isn't afraid to eat some costs up front, it will probably be $400, but looking at the current market, taking into consideration inflation and the PS5's specs, $500 is certainly still on the table.

At the moment of publishing, there's been no word of when the PS5 will release or when we will learn more about it. However, most reports and speculation claim the next-gen PlayStation console will release in 2020, which means we should start hearing more about it soon.

Posted: Apr 23, 2019 5:17 pm
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/2019/04/23/ps5-playstation-5-price-cost/