AI, if we can even label it as intelligence at all, has become a real burden on the tech world. Well, that’s at least if you’re not a corporate giant with billions of dollars around to buy RAM with. The increasing demand for AI, no matter how or where, is draining the world’s memory supply, and consoles could be hit particularly hard once backups dry up.
But the PlayStation 5 is set to remain at its proposed price point for the foreseeable future, or so indicates a report by Push Square, which went through Sony’s recent earnings call.
According to that outlet, Sony Group CFO Lin Tao said the company has enough RAM to continue manufacturing PlayStations at a stable rate throughout this year and aims to further negotiate with suppliers to ensure there’s always enough memory.
But with AI giants spending untold billions to buy out undiced wafers (memory that hasn’t yet even been made into separate DRAM, VRAM, or other types), supply is running dramatically low, even for Sony to maneuver around. The bubble keeps expanding and will likely continue to do so throughout 2026 and probably 2027 as well.
If it happens to run out of memory, Sony has plans to offset PlayStation 5 price increases by putting the burden of funding onto, you’ve guessed it, the player. “Monetizing the installed base,” i.e., finding ways to get more money out of existing users, will be Sony’s backup strategy in the case of memory supply issues, Push Square writes.
Tao mentioned “growing software and network revenue,” which could indicate a bigger cut for Sony per sale (increasing game prices), ramping up PS Plus subscription costs, or introducing new monetization schemes that we haven’t seen yet. At the end of the day, it won’t matter because prices, in some respect will rise despite our best wishes. The only variable in the equation is what exactly will cost more, the console itself or the stuff on it.
I won’t play smart and try to figure out which would be better, because it’s coming out of our pockets nonetheless, and all because people want to make videos of a black-and-white baby singing Chinese songs.
What a world.
