Sony Comments on Ongoing RAM Shortage and Potential PS5 Impact

Sony says the PS5 could dodge RAM-related price and availability concerns through 2026. The broader console market has faced a lot of uncertainty lately as component costs have skyrocketed, leaving many wondering what to expect from the end of this generation and the start of the next. While there’s still a lot left to answer, it seems that the PlayStation 5 will avoid the worst effects for now.

In the fall of 2025, memory prices began to surge amid constrained supply as manufacturers diverted more RAM toward AI data centers and away from other segments. Since then, the shortage has only worsened, with some RAM makers leaving the consumer market entirely, and companies like Valve holding off on hardware launches to reassess the impact. There’s even talk that the PS6 and next-gen Xbox could get delayed if this goes on for too long, but now Sony has offered fans a small glimmer of hope.

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Sony Has Enough RAM for PlayStation 5 Stocks Through Holiday 2026

According to Japanese gaming news account Genki, Sony CFO Lin Tao has stated that the company has secured enough RAM to carry PS5 stocks through the end of the 2026 holiday season. While Tao didn’t dive into specifics, having large enough safety stocks means manufacturers like Sony can delay the impact of rising material costs. This was an important part of the company’s strategy when preparing for fears of high U.S. tariffs in 2025, and it seems to have paid off this time around, too. The news should come as a sigh of relief for anyone shopping for a new console, especially considering how the PS5 already got a price hike last year due to a “challenging economic environment.”

The comments are similar to a recent statement from Nintendo on the same subject. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said the Switch 2 will likely not see a price hike through 2026, but the company will consider the possibility in the future, depending on how market factors shape up. Similarly, Tao did not say if Sony expects to be able to keep costs low and maintain availability after the 2026 holiday, although she did say it will continue to negotiate with suppliers to meet demand. Whether those negotiations will entail a small price increase is uncertain, but it may not be off the table, as Tao declared Sony will attempt to “minimize” the effects of rising costs, not necessarily avoid them entirely.

Tao outlined two main strategies to stave off the worst effects of rising RAM costs. First, Sony will prioritize monetizing its current install base, which likely means less focus on new PS5 sales and more emphasis on selling hardware to existing owners. That could include making more money from controllers, hardware upgrades, and other smaller-ticket items to make up for potential losses on the consoles themselves. Secondly, the company plans to expand its software and network services revenue, meaning money from games and PSN subscriptions. There’s a good chance Sony could earn enough from this segment to offset a hit elsewhere, considering how PlayStation Store sales hit a record high last quarter, enough to boost overall profits despite declining hardware sales.

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There’s a chance that things in the memory market could settle before Sony’s safety stocks run out, but that increasingly seems like wishful thinking. Toward the end of 2025, Micron said it expects the RAM shortage to last beyond 2026, so if PS5 prices and availability are only safe until the end of the year, there could be trouble on the horizon come 2027. It’s difficult to say anything for certain, but market volatility is typically quick to raise prices and slow to bring them back down. Gamers will have to keep their eyes on how things unfold to make the best decisions for their wallets.