Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro goes on sale with a big price tag

NEW YORK

The PlayStation 5 Pro hit shops on Oct. 6 with a price tag that has raised eyebrows among gamers, but growing sticker shocks in the tech industry have yet to deter consumers.

The upgraded version of Sony's flagship gaming console is retailing for $699.99 in the United States, $250 more than the previous PlayStation 5 model.

It will cost an eye-watering 799.99 euros ($860), 250 euros higher than the older version, in Europe and almost 120,000 yen ($780) in Japan, where Sony is based.

With the release of the PlayStation 5 dating to 2020, the Pro version gives Sony a chance to integrate improvements that allow games to run faster and with better graphics.

However, the higher price "looks challenging from a marketing perspective," said J.P. Morgan analyst Junya Ayada.

Analysts said Sony had failed to boost flagging sales when it released an upgrade to the PlayStation 4 in 2016 at a higher cost than the previous version.

While Apple kept the price of the iPhone 16 unchanged from the iPhone 15 when it launched in September, the $799 starting price is much larger than those for flagship smartphones five years ago.

The trend is similar at Apple's competitors like Samsung, which has begun selling foldable screen phones like the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

"These are new market entrants that are bringing in new technologies, which will usually mean that comes with a premium price," Brian Comiskey, a specialist in the evolution of technology at the Consumer Technology Association, told AFP.

Rising prices also reflect an increase in the cost of raw materials. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into devices has also had an impact.