Khaberni - Sony is reevaluating the launch schedule for its upcoming device, PlayStation 6, amidst a consistent rise in hardware component prices.
While expectations were pointing to its release in 2027, recent industry reports suggest a possible delay to 2028 or even 2029.
Memory prices at the heart of the issue
Concerns are concentrated around the cost of memory, as data centers consume large quantities of DRAM and high-bandwidth memory, impacting the costs of other components.
Rumors suggest that PlayStation 6 may include about 30 gigabytes of fast memory, making any fluctuation in prices directly affect production costs.
Reports show that memory prices have seen significant increases in late 2025 and early 2026, and whether this trend will continue is unclear, but instability alone makes planning an early launch difficult, according to a report published by "gizmochina" and viewed by "Al Arabiya Business".
"Sony's" options between price and margins
"Sony" usually relies on competitive pricing at the start of each generation, even though the bigger profits come later from software and services.
If memory prices remain high, the company may have to accept lower profit margins or raise the final price, which could make selling a device at a $1000 price tag difficult in the regular market.
Extending the life cycle of PlayStation 5
On the other hand, there is no urgent need to launch the new generation quickly.
PlayStation 5 has exceeded sales of 75 million units and demand for it is still strong. The late 2024 launch of PlayStation 5 Pro revitalized the lineup, giving Sony more flexibility to delay PlayStation 6.
Historically, PlayStation generations have not followed a strict schedule; the gap between PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 was six years, while the transition from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5 took seven years.
Therefore, delaying PlayStation 6 until eight or nine years would not be unusual.
Currently, the rising memory costs and the stable popularity of PlayStation 5 indicate that a later launch of PlayStation 6 has become a realistic possibility.
