Sony is raising prices on its range of PlayStation 5 consoles starting April 2, citing “continued pressures in the global economic landscape.”
Aside from President Donald Trump's tariffs, there are two surprising factors that are pushing up the price of the video game console — and could be a bad sign for other consumer electronics too. Those factors: the artificial intelligence boom and the Iran war.
The AI data center boom has created a severe shortage of random-access memory chips, used for high-speed, short-term memory in phones, computers and game consoles. The three major producers of RAM chips have all cut back on producing chips for consumer products in exchange for higher-margin chips for data centers, and prices for memory have spiked.
Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has also reduced the global supply of helium, a critical component in the production of computer chips. Nearly a third of the world’s helium comes from Qatar, which has struggled to export helium through the Strait. Iran has also attacked helium production lines in the Gulf nation.
PBS News’ Tim McPhillips breaks down how these shortages could impact your next tech purchase.