Sony’s PlayStation 6 Launch At Risk As Memory Crisis Deepens

Another day, another update on the RAM crisis—and now, insider statements made to Bloomberg point toward both a PlayStation 6 delay and a Nintendo Switch 2 price hike, in response to current industry supply/demand conditions. For PlayStation 6, its delay could be pushed "to 2028 or even 2029," and the Nintendo Switch 2 price hike could kick in as soon as this year. While Sony and Nintendo didn't respond to requests for official comment on the matter, these delays would sadly be within expectations, based on our prior coverage and worsening status of the RAM crisis. Prior reports point to the 12GB LPDDR5X RAM used in Switch 2 getting 41% more expensive, and the 256 GB NAND flash for its internal storage rising by about 8%. While Nintendo Switch 2 did launch selling for a profit instead of a loss, industry conditions point toward the Nintendo Switch 2's launch price of $449 not staying in place for long, and scalpers could further worsen the situation whether or not Nintendo chooses to raise prices.


For PlayStation and Xbox, though, the situation is truly disastrous. Both of the next-gen consoles are expected to have healthy allocations of VRAM, with the next Xbox believed to leverage 48 GB of GDDR7 RAM, PlayStation 6 to have 30 GB, and the PlayStation 6 handheld to have 24 GB. With RAM and VRAM rapidly becoming the most expensive components for capacity in consumer electronics, the prices of next-gen home consoles could easily wind up exceeding $1000. Even Valve's Steam Machine has been forced into limbo, with Valve currently unable to share launch dates or pricing information on the hardware.

While Bloomberg's sources are unclear, it's not like console manufacturers are running a charity. The days of consoles being sold at a loss seem to be long past us, and even if they aren't, extreme price hikes on manufacturing is going to tighten those margins well beyond consumer comfort.