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Sony said it is raising the price of the disk drive equipped
version of the console to 549.99 euros ($550.81) from 499.99
euros previously in Europe with a similar hike in Japan.
The Japanese entertainment conglomerate said there would be no
price increase in the United States, where it is locked in
battle with Microsoft Corp's Xbox, which is aggressively
expanding its games subscription service.
"We're seeing high global inflation rates, as well as adverse
currency trends, impacting consumers and creating pressure on
many industries," Sony Interactive Entertainment Chief Executive
Jim Ryan wrote in a blog post.
The price hike comes as Sony's games business has been squeezed
by supply chain snarls feeding into hardware shortages, with the
conglomerate aiming to boost PS5 production for the year-end
shopping season.
While the price hike "is a necessity given the current global
economic environment and its impact on SIE's business, our top
priority continues to be improving the PS5 supply situation,"
gaming chief Ryan wrote.
Sony aims to sell 18 million units of the hit device in the
current financial year after selling 11.5 million units in the
year ended March.
"Although wide ranging, the PS5 price increases are relatively
nuanced and are taking place in markets where the impact is
being felt the most with an added layer of squeeze coming from
the strength of the U.S. dollar," Ampere Analysis analyst Piers
Harding-Rolls wrote in a blog post.
"Microsoft will take advantage of Sony's increase to push its
'value' message," Harding-Rolls added.
($1 = 0.9985 euros)
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Edmund Blair, Jason Neely
and Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
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