The Sony PlayStation 5 Price is Going Up.
As if a Monday morning couldn’t get any worse, Sony delivered the bombshell that the PlayStation 5 price was going up in several territories in response to the current “challenging economic environment.” Despite some retailers immediately putting PS5 prices up, the situation isn’t as bad as I expected it to be.
I checked prices at major U.K. retailers Curry’s and Argos roughly two hours after the announcement and they hadn’t been updated. I suspect prices stayed the same for a good few hours later that day. If you were quick enough to pick up a PS5 Digital at its original £389 ($515.79) price from these shops, hats off. For everyone else, the £429 ($568.82) price is the new normal.
There are, however, still some consoles being sold at the original price.
- EE is selling the PS5 Digital Slim for £367 ($486.62), £22 less than its former £389 price.
- ShopTo is selling the PS5 Digital for £389.85.
- Amazon has the best deal at £352.82 ($266.17) for the PS5 Digital.
- John Lewis still has the PS5 Digital listed for £389.
You can also pick up the console at its original price, brand new, on eBay from Buy It Now sellers who haven’t received the price hike news yet. I checked this morning and there are still some listings priced at £389.
What we can see here is that the cheapest retailers are sticking with their strategy by keeping prices low. Amazon has repeatedly undercut manufacturers regarding iPhone 16 and Samsung Galaxy S25 pricing in recent months. ShopTo is also well known for console and game disc discounts.
EE is a lesser-known player in the console-selling business, expanding to more gadgets outside of smartphones in 2022. This is clearly an opportunity for the carrier to boost its profile amongst gamers, which could mean keeping prices low while it clears existing stock.
PS5 Price Fluctuations Is Good news for Smartphones
Thanks to the trade tariffs, and the threats of more, tech prices are in flux right now. It’s unclear how much your iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel will cost in two months. But, as we can see with the PS5, some shops won’t immediately jack up prices. The smartphone market is even more competitive, with deep and frequent device discounts the norm.
Similar to Sony relying on selling PS5 games to make up for discounted hardware, the device is only part of the deal for smartphone makers. The real money is hooking users into their ecosystem so they sign up to service subscriptions for years, alongside providing a lifetime of valuable data. So, the mythical $2000 iPhone may never come to pass.