United States President Donald Trump has made tariffs a central part of his economic strategy. His proposed tariffs on goods made outside of the country could have a huge impact on many different industries, including video games. Since many countries manufacture their products in China, there have been a lot of questions about how increased costs could end up being passed down to consumers. As part of its third quarter financial results, Sony addressed the topic of tariffs, and how the company is looking to avoid higher prices on PlayStation products.
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“We have been working to duplicate our supply chains and increase their flexibility. Furthermore, we have been preparing recently by doing such things as stockpiling a certain level of strategic inventory in the U.S., and we expect the impact on the financial performance this year of additional U.S. tariffs — that have been implemented or whose considerations have been announced — at this point in time to be minor.”
Put simply, it sounds like PlayStation’s current strategy is to stock up on product in the U.S. ahead of any potential tariffs, and to make moves to produce products in countries outside of China, should there be a need to do so. In that regard, Sony’s response to the proposed tariffs sounds very similar to what Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said earlier this month. Furukawa noted that the company’s products are not only manufactured in China, but also in Vietnam and Cambodia, and Nintendo is keeping a close eye on the tariff issue in order to figure out the best way to respond.
It remains to be seen whether this strategy will be enough to keep prices at their current level. However, it’s clear that companies throughout the video game industry are looking at ways to adapt if need be. There’s a lot of uncertainty right now, and that’s stressful for both companies as well as consumers. At the very least, it doesn’t sound like a PlayStation price increase would immediately follow tariffs being implemented.
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As of this writing, President Trump’s proposed tariffs on countries like China, Canada, and Mexico have not gone into effect. All of these countries have attempted to avoid tariffs from being implemented, as that would drive up the prices of products, which would then be passed on to consumers. At this time, we don’t know what impact that would end up having on the price of the PS5 console, or even video game software. Industry analyst Mat Piscatella noted in a post on Bluesky last month that Trump’s proposed 25% tariff on Mexico could result in fewer physical games being manufactured, but prices could still rise on digital games “to remain at price parity with physical.”
Are you concerned about the impact tariffs might have on video game prices? Do you think companies like Sony can avoid passing along increased costs? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
[H/T: @Genki_JPN]
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