Sony: 'Rising Costs of Memory Procurement Will Have a Certain Impact on Sales of New PS Hardware' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 19 February 2026 / 2,622 Views
Sony in a Q&A with investors that was recently translated to English was asked if the increase in memory costs would cause a price hike for the PlayStation 5. Sony did not provide any specifics, but did say the rising costs will have an impact on hardware sales.
"We will provide information about the impact on next fiscal year’s financial results at the appropriate time," reads Sony's response.
"PS5 is now in its sixth year since its launch, has an installed base of 92 million units on a sell-in (shipped) basis, and has created a very healthy ecosystem. As is the case this fiscal year, the majority of our sales for next fiscal year and beyond is expected to come from software sales and network services, which will not be affected by memory prices.
"Although rising costs of memory procurement will have a certain impact on sales of new PS hardware, we had originally anticipated a relatively gradual decline in hardware unit sales in the latter half of the lifecycle, so we believe that our available options are relatively broad."
Sony in a separate question did reveal the reason for the decline in profits for the quarter ending December 2025 was due to the worldwide PlayStation 5 hardware discounts. However, Sony believes this will lead to improved profits over the long term.
"The main factor behind the decline in 3Q profit margin compared with 1Q and 2Q is the year-end holiday hardware promotion on a global basis," said Sony. "Although this suppressed 3Q profit, we think it will contribute to lifetime value in the mid- to long-term. Toward fiscal year-end, we are not currently considering any specific measures regarding inventory. "
The company was also asked about user engagement on PlayStation during the holidays and how "it appears somewhat stagnant."
"Regarding holiday season user engagement, we see it as having remained solid, and we believe that our platform has very strong momentum," said Sony. "While the way users play varies depending on the game title, we are also planning the release of major titles next fiscal year and are viewing the situation optimistically."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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nows the time to purchase if you do ot have a PS5
We wouldn't have so much inflation if the Epstein class weren't hoarding their wealth while most of us barely got by. They don't even pay their share of taxes. No wonder the world is so fucked up, stupid fucking rich pedophiles.
dont forget men can give birth and people dont even know what bathroom to use
Oh, so that's what is driving the RAM prices up! Thank you so much for the genius insight.
Ok, boomer.
Everyone knows the AI industry is a glorified ponzi scheme so why is the bubble taking so long to pop?
The way I see it is AI won't go away since so many people are using it, endorsing it -- causing userbase to grow, and incorporating it into every tech they can. Big companies just haven't found the correct way to utilize and turn it into profit....yet. The reason it hasn't popped yet is because they're willing to lose billions in hopes to soon find a way to make trillions out of it. In every other business scenario where a company would lose billions month-after-month they would've shut this down long ago.
This is going to be a big issue for the PS6 and the next-gen Xbox if either of them release anytime soon, nobody wants to spend more than maybe $600-700 on a new console, nor do Sony and Microsoft want to take a loss per console in order to reach that price. Would be best to delay next-gen consoles until new RAM production facilities can be opened to meet the increased demand for RAM for AI datacenters, so that RAM costs can go down again.
Imo, 2026~2028 are the years for Playstation "big guns", read:
- Insomniac - Wolverine.
- Bungie - Marathon.
- ND - Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
-
SMS - Cory Barlog next game.
I think these game are going to be amazing.
at the very end of the console cycle
do you want to play GTA6 or not? xbox not much of a factor, will not be on switch2
ps6 is going to be crazy expensive
"it will impact sales" sure is a way of saying "we will raise prices".
They specifically reference "new hardware" so they're not necessarily talking about PS5.
PS6 is supposed to have almost double the RAM, so I think they're talking about that. The portable version 50% more ram than the PS5 (24GB)
But they most likely mean new batches of PS5. The most damning part is that they answered that when specifically asked if the rising costs of RAM would provoke a PS5 price hike.
Maybe they're accepting the mid-term permanence of the memory crisis. but the "new PS hardware" statement sounds like the new hardware is around the corner.
