A silent storm: how AI has absorbed the memory market
Over the past two years, a new technological wave has emerged: generative artificial intelligence. Services like ChatGPT, image creation tools, advanced voice recognition and even powerful AI assistants require infrastructure based on gigantic data centers. And these centers are literally swallowing up the world’s RAM.
Players like OpenAI, Google, Amazon and Meta are buying entire stocks of RAM at sky-high prices. Result: suppliers, like the giant Micron, are choosing to withdraw from the consumer market to respond exclusively to this industrial demand. Direct consequence for console manufacturers: components become rare, expensive and unstable in terms of availability.
Sony in a strategic impasse: produce or wait?
Historically, Sony has always been able to control its production costs thanks to its volumes and long-term agreements. But this time, the situation is unprecedented. The company finds itself facing a wall: maintaining a certain level of performance for its PS6 without exploding the cost price.
For many analysts, the only viable option in the short term would be to delay the release of the console, to wait for a rebalancing of the component market. Another scenario would be to accept a significant price increase upon release, which would go against the PlayStation tradition, known for its “general public” machines.
A €1000 console? The hypothesis becomes credible
Some figures are starting to circulate: if current trends continue, the PS6 could reach a launch price ranging from 800 to 1000 euros, depending on the options and hardware configuration. Such an amount would be a shock for consumers, especially in a tense economic context.
This would also pose a real marketing dilemma for Sony: how to convince the general public to invest such a sum in a console, even if it promises next-generation performance? This would be a risky bet, which could affect initial sales or even delay mass adoption.
A prolonged… or disrupted generation?
The current situation could push Sony to review its entire schedule. Some observers believe that the most logical strategy would be to bet on a PS5 Pro in 2025–2026 to extend the current generation, while waiting for better days to launch the PS6.
This possible postponement would also make it possible to better prepare for the arrival of a new technological standard (native 4K, even faster SSD, integrated AI, etc.) without exploding costs. In any case, the next generation of consoles will not be based solely on graphics, but on a clever balance between innovation, accessibility and industrial reality.