California governor Gavin Newsom has reacted to the PlayStation 5 worth hike within the US, jokingly thanking US President Donald Trump for making it occur through his controversial tariff technique.
Re-sharing a information story in regards to the PS5 worth hike, Newsom, a Democrat, posted on social media, “Nice work, Donald Trump!!”
On August 20, Sony introduced a worth hike for the PS5 within the US, with all fashions of the console going up by $50 efficient at this time, August 21. PS5 equipment, nonetheless, will maintain their costs. With the worth hike now in impact, the most cost effective PS5 mannequin is $500. The PS5 Professional, in the meantime, now prices $750.
Analyst Daniel Ahmad said Sony is elevating costs in opposition to the backdrop of upper tariff charges on international locations the place the PS5 is produced, together with China (30%), Japan (15%), Vietnam (20%), and Malaysia (19%).
Earlier than this, Microsoft introduced worth hikes for its Xbox consoles. Nintendo, in the meantime, has stated it can’t rule out elevating the worth of the Swap 2 attributable to tariffs, whereas an analyst has predicted a Swap 2 worth hike in 2026.
On August 1, US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs that led to some market turmoil. This adopted on from the preliminary “Liberation Day” tariffs that had been introduced again in April.
Trump is pushing these new tariffs partly to encourage US corporations to construct extra merchandise within the US, however the chance of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo shifting manufacturing to the US for his or her consoles is minimal. Trump is presently dealing with multiple lawsuits that allege he doesn’t have the authority to impose tariffs on different international locations on this method.
Trump additionally pushed new tariffs throughout his first presidency, however online game corporations efficiently lobbied the federal government to provide online game consoles an exception. That did not occur this time, nonetheless.