Sony and Microsoft are debating whether to delay the next generation of consoles according to a report, as rising RAM prices threaten to derail their plans.
If you’ve been paying attention to tech news over recent months, you may have heard about the growing concern around memory shortages for new PCs and smartphones.
The price of RAM has drastically increased as the world’s biggest memory makers – Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix – allocate more resources to AI companies, who are buying up lots of memory for huge data centres. This has led to a shortage, with RAM now suddenly an expensive commodity.
According to a report by the International Data Corporation, this global memory shortage is expected to ‘persist well into 2027’.
There’s already some concern around how this will impact the price of Sony and Microsoft’s next consoles, but now a new report claims the two companies are discussing whether to delay their respective machines altogether.
According to Insider Gaming, the memory situation has ‘led console manufacturers to debate whether the next generation of consoles should be delayed from their intended 2027-2028 release window’.
With that extra time, it’s hoped RAM manufacturers will be able to ‘build out their infrastructure to produce more RAM’, therefore allowing the prices to drop.
Neither Sony or Microsoft has officially announced plans to release a new console in 2027 or 2028, but it was expected around then based on the lifespan of prior consoles.
Considering how slow the transition was from the PlayStation 4 to the PlayStation 5, a potential delay would probably sound appealing to most people – especially if it means the PlayStation 6 will be more affordable when it does eventually launch.
While Sony is in a good position to ride out some extra years on the PlayStation 5, which is still selling well, the situation is very different with Microsoft. Xbox Series X/S sales have fallen off a cliff, so they might be more keen to push out new hardware despite the high costs.
The other concern is whether this memory shortage will lead to further price hikes across the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. We’ve already seen Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo raise prices in response to tariffs, so unless these companies soak up the costs themselves, these shortages could provoke a similar reaction.
It could be a particularly sticky situation if the rumours are true about a new PlayStation handheld, although it’s unclear if it is directly connected to the PlayStation 6, or something closer to a PlayStation Portal.
Both Sony and Microsoft have already talked publicly about their plans for the next generation. In October, PlayStation lead architect Mark Cerny teased Sony’s next console would arrive in a ‘few years’ time’.
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