>For example, on Wednesday, Sony announced that it is raising the price of its Playstation 5 video game console by $50 even though historically, video games consoles only get cheaper more than four years after their release. In case the company’s rationale of a “challenging economic environment” wasn’t a clear enough link to the tariffs, the increase only applies to U.S. consumers. Sony’s video game rivals have already raised prices, with Microsoft bumping its Xbox Series X by $100 and Nintendo increasing prices for its Switch and increasing prices for the accessories for the new Switch 2.
>For example, on Wednesday, Sony announced that it is raising the price of its Playstation 5 video game console by $50 even though historically, video games consoles only get cheaper more than four years after their release. In case the company’s rationale of a “challenging economic environment” wasn’t a clear enough link to the tariffs, the increase only applies to U.S. consumers. Sony’s video game rivals have already raised prices, with Microsoft bumping its Xbox Series X by $100 and Nintendo increasing prices for its Switch and increasing prices for the accessories for the new Switch 2.
>While these big names get the headlines, of course, small businesses — which have less flexibility to handle the tariffs — are raising their prices as well. With consumers “more sensitive and suspicious of corporate greed, especially after years of inflation,” Marketplace reports, “companies are looking for targeted ways to raise prices that can sometimes seem sneaky” — such as cutting free shipping or adding service fees. As Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell noted, “some companies will certainly be taking advantage” of the tariffs to raise prices even when they’re not affected — just as many companies pushed prices higher during the pandemic, whether or not they were affected by supply chain issues.
