PlayStation and Xbox consoles to get even more expensive thanks to AI

Thanks to a serious PC memory shortage, there are concerns of what kind of knock-on effect this will have on video game consoles.

Unless you’re knee deep in the PC market, you may not be aware that it’s become increasingly more difficult to build or upgrade PCs, as shortage in memory chips become an ever bigger porblem.

It’s never been a cheap hobby, but prices for PC memory parts have shot up to the point where what little Black Friday discounts were available were still considered too expensive.

Now, it’s being reported that these shortages and price hikes could last well beyond 2028, which risk impacting not just current gen hardware but also the next gen PlayStation 6 and Xbox consoles.

Based on comments made by Samsung and SK Hynix, demand for PC memory now outweighs supply, but neither of them will be drastically increasing production to compensate.

This is a problem when, according to Korean outlet Hankyung, both companies control roughly 70% of theDRAM (dynamic random access memory) market. DRAM is vital to not just modern PCs but video game consoles too.

SK Hynix has said that it plans to ‘accelerate the transition to 1c DRAM’, which is the next generation of memory chips, but admitted ‘it will be difficult to resolve the supply shortage.’

As for Samsung, it’s reportedly reviewing requests for long-term supply from major customers. No names were given, but Samsung ‘does not want to tie up volumes with a specific customer in a situation where prices are rising rapidly.’

Basically, if memory chip prices across the board only go up, then console manufacturers will more than likely make their products more expensive to offshoot the costs.

It’s already been confirmed that AMD will be supplying its chips for both Sony and Microsoft’s next consoles, and there’ll be impacted by the shortages as well.

If the shortages remain bad, or get worse, Sony and Microsoft may be incentivised to delay their next gen launches. After all, if they don’t have enough supply, then the high price tags might not be enough to turn a meaningful profit.

Although no official dates have been shared, the consensus is that the next consoles are aiming for 2027 launches, or at least they were before the current crisis.

Considering the current success of the PlayStation 5, it’s not necessarily a serious problem for Sony, which just got a major boost from the Black Friday sales, and has GTA 6 coming up next year.

The same can’t be said for the Xbox Series X/S, which saw no major price cuts for Black Friday and is currently being outsold by something called the Nex Playground.

It’s already been rumoured the Xbox could see another price hike as a result of these shortages, as the console has already grown more expensive thanks to the tariffs US president Donald Trump placed on China.

However, according to Reuters, the electronics company Foxconn is looking to help Microsoft by expanding Xbox production in Vietnam, which would help get around the tariffs; a strategy Sony and Nintendo have already employed.

Although the price certainly hasn’t helped, demand has been the biggest problem for the Xbox Series X/S, so it’s somewhat surprising to find Microsoft looking for a complicated workaround like this.

As for what’s responsible for the shortages, the blame is being laid squarely at the feet of the AI industry. Since modern applications of AI technology require a lot of memory, suppliers are seeing new demand from AI focused companies and businesses on top of their usual customers.

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