Citing “industry sources and leaked internal documents”, The Time technology section is reporting that Sony will launch the PlayStation 4 for £300. If true, this price point would be more than £100 cheaper than the “I’ll work more hours and buy it” price tag that the PlayStation 3 carried at launch.
The rumored £300 price tag converts to $464 USD using current exchange rates, however, video game hardware manufacturers almost never directly translate prices for the overseas products. Assuming the report is correct, the £300 price point would seem to indicate a U.S. price in the neighborhood of $399 to $449.
Interestingly, this rumored price for the PlayStation 4 seems to square with a recent report from the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. Earlier this month Asahi Shimbun claimed that the PS4 would launch in Japan for ¥40,000 yen, which works out to approximately $425 USD.
Prior rumors suggested that the PlayStation 4 will support Ultra HD 4K resolution, and come with a controller that incorporates a touch panel interface (akin to the Vita) and biometric sensors in the handles. While the 4K resolution is little more than an educated guess, the PS4 controller reports have recently been backed up with unconfirmed leaked images of its prototype. Assuming the PS4 does include this amount of relatively expensive technology the £300 price tag would seem to indicate that Sony is planning to sell the new machine at a loss — hardly a surprise, since the company has traditionally launched hardware below their cost to manufacturer.
Sony is expected to debut the PlayStation 4 at an event later this week, however, we are not anticipating that they will announce a price point at that time. That news will likely come much later after Sony’s marketing teams have had a chance to work up hype for the next generation console.
While we wait for Sony’s official reveal of the PlayStation 4, let us know what you think of a potential mid-$400 price point for the console. Is it too high, or just about right for your wallet?