The PlayStation 6 could be the most expensive mainstream console Sony has ever shipped — and the culprit isn’t the graphics chip. According to hardware leaker KeplerL2, the console’s RAM and NAND flash storage alone now cost Sony more than $680 per unit. That’s before the processor, motherboard, cooling, power supply, or case enter the picture.
To put that in perspective, a standard PS5 with 1TB of storage currently sells for $649.99 in the US. If the claim holds, just two components inside the next PlayStation would cost Sony more than an entire current-gen console does at retail.
The numbers have been climbing all year. KeplerL2’s earlier estimates put the PS6’s total bill of materials at roughly $760 back in March, then near $960 by mid-year. The new figure appeared in a NeoGAF discussion where the leaker pushed back on the idea that Sony could subsidize the console down to a $680 retail price — “RAM + NAND alone is over $680,” he wrote.
The reason isn’t a PlayStation problem. It’s an AI problem. Data centers building AI hardware are buying up huge volumes of DRAM and NAND, and memory prices across the industry have spiked as a result. GDDR7 memory — reportedly planned for the PS6 on a 160-bit bus, with configurations up to 40GB (30GB considered more likely) — was projected to cost about $3 per gigabyte when Sony and Microsoft started designing their next console chips. Today it runs roughly $20 to $23 per gigabyte.
That cost pressure is landing on everyone building hardware. Reports suggest Sony even considered cutting the PS6’s memory capacity to keep costs in check, and consumers are already feeling the squeeze: a standard 32GB DDR5-6000 PC memory kit has doubled in price, and chipmakers like Micron have shifted focus from consumer memory to AI servers.
Sony hasn’t announced PS6 specs, pricing, or a launch date, so these figures remain unverified leaks, not official numbers. But the direction is consistent with what Sony itself has signaled: at a June investor meeting, the company said it isn’t realistic to absorb all component cost increases and that it does not intend to sell hardware at significant losses.
If memory prices stay where they are, a PS6 above $1,000 looks less like a rumor and more like a math problem Sony can’t solve.
Sources: Digital Trends, Wccftech, Cybernews
