After Microsoft made the surprise Xbox Series X reveal this past December at The Game Awards, fans continue to wait for Sony's move in showing off its next generation offering, the PlayStation 5. To this point, Sony has remained very selective in what it has revealed with rumors and potential leaks attempting to fill in the rest of the information. However, the decision to wait on the console's reveal seemed to be less of a choice and more of a necessity due to a number of manufacturing and business reasons.
In a new report from Bloomberg, Sony appears to be struggling a bit more than it anticipated due to some unforseen issues. The biggest issues appears to be related to the DRAM and NAND flash memory, which has been more difficult to secure a reliable supply of. These parts have suddenly become very high in demand due to the smartphone makers also preparing fifth-generation devices. Naturally, this has pushed manufacturing costs of the PlayStation 5 higher than Sony originally anticipated.
The low supply of DRAM has also had a negative impact on the PS5 development in that Sony has reportedly had to cancel previously planned features. Several people with knowledge on the matter claim that a mirrorless camera had to be scrapped during the console's development over the DRAM issue.
On the other end of the spectrum, Sony is actually paying more than what it normally would for the cooling system in the PS5. In most cases, companies aim to spend less than a dollar on the necessary parts, but for the PS5, Sony is spending a few dollars per unit to ensure that the powerful chips housed inside of the console have plenty of ways to disperse the heat they'll be generating.
The anticipated PS5 version of PlayStation VR also won't be making it at launch later this year according to the report. The virtual-reality headset is scheduled to launch sometime after the new console goes on sale, though a specific time frame isn't yet known.
The last piece to the report touches on the price, which elaborates on the previous rumors that Sony was waiting to see how Microsoft prices its Xbox Series X console. The scarcity of the hardware components has seemingly pushed manufacturing costs of each PS5 console to around $450, which could be problematic if the company wants to sell the console at a profit. If so, that would push the number even higher, risking that the PS5 launches at a higher price than Microsoft's next-gen console. With many expecting Microsoft to reveal those details during E3 in June 2020, pressure is starting to build internally at Sony as fans eagerly await more information on its next generation plans.
PlayStation 5Â is set to release in Holiday 2020.
Source: Bloomberg
