Sony has said that the launch of its PlayStation 5 (PS5) is still on track for a year-end launch, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the Japanese console maker has apparently decided to to limit the number of available units during the first year of the console’s existence.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the Tokyo-based electronics giant explains its actions as a way to gauge its consumer demand for the console. As well as its rumoured high asking price at launch brought about by the console’s ambitious specs.
Experts are forecasting that the price of the PS5 to be somewhere between US$499 (~RM2171) and US$549 (~RM2389). That’s steep compared to the US$399 (~RM1736) of the PS4 at launch. Unsurprisingly, one reason behind the PS5’s high asking price is because of the high cost of its components; basically, the console will be powered by a custom-made CPU and GPU, based on AMD’s Zen 2 microarchitecture. On top of that, the system is expected to be ship with a high-speed, high capacity SSD, instead of the traditional HDD.
Statistically, it was reported that Sony plans on manufacturing somewhere between five and six million PS5s, by the end of its fiscal year ending March 2021. To provide some context to that number, the PS4 sold 7.5 million units in just half a year after its launch in November 2013.
But it’s no secret that the global COVID-19 issue has affected Sony in some way. According to sources close to Bloomberg, the pandemic may not have had an affected the PS5’s production capacity, but it has thrown a spanner into its promotional plans.
Mass production of the PS5 is expected to begin sometime in June.
(Source: Bloomberg)
