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Cory Barlog Slams PlayStation for Charging Five Months Minimum Wage for a PS5 in Brazil
- Thread starter PS9
- Start date
I mean, Sony has nothing to do with it. Blame it on a country that imposes crazy taxes to imports.
Sony has lots of anticonsumer policies, probably the company that has the most, but this is not one of them, and Barlog is crearly not slamming Sony.
EDIT: man, I'm reading the tweets and OP and that id just silly, is Playstation going to charge you, I don't know, 200€ for something that costs 500€ to manufacture just because you live in a poor country? Videogames and software is different matter, but hardware? Plain stupid.
Sony has lots of anticonsumer policies, probably the company that has the most, but this is not one of them, and Barlog is crearly not slamming Sony.
EDIT: man, I'm reading the tweets and OP and that id just silly, is Playstation going to charge you, I don't know, 200€ for something that costs 500€ to manufacture just because you live in a poor country? Videogames and software is different matter, but hardware? Plain stupid.
Yeah, video games are generally a luxury item but it several countries is really ridiculously expensive..regional price adjustment should be implemented..
Its garbage that they don't do this. Sony should be fully aware what the average person takes home in pay in a region and adjust pricing accordingly.
OP
OP
Sony absolutely has something to do with it. They could easily implement regional pricing like many, many other companies in the industry do. They don't.
There's probably not at all they can do in terms of hardware, but their actual game prices are completely disconnected from reality (as are Nintendo's).
I don't believe he's "slamming PlayStation," though. But merely addressing the situation is more than Sony corporate cares to do.
Also, the minimum wage in poor countries (if there even is a set minimum) is insanely low, like pennies, hence why so many items are made in 3rd world countries by large companies. It's hard to adjust pricing for that without incurring a huge loss in some countries.
I always thought it was more to do with Brazil taxing outside products heavily. Which is why Sega got TecToy to make their consoles, so it was considered a Brazillian product and therefore taxed lower?
As I stated in my comment, software is different matter. But they are discussing hardware in those tweets. They can't just sell you a PS5 for half the price just because personal incomes are low in one specific country.
Well... they literally could. They'd probably make an even bigger killing out of the insanely overpriced software with more units around :P
The tweet was specifically about hardware and all of the current consoles have high prices that are largely out of their makers' control in Brazil.
Those things aren't cheap to produce, production doesn't become cheaper if you sell them in a poorer country, what is Sony supposed to do, give them away for basically free?
PS4 was briefly produced here but then it stopped because import tax on consoles lowered to a point Sony decided it was best to import. I don't doubt that also applies for the PS5.
The big problem is clearly the game prices, some games on PS4 are getting more expensive (it's not the same $70 thing that NA/EU often complain about). They're basically converting to BRL straight from USD, but we don't earn our money in USD.
Now, here comes the big thing about this. PS5 still sell out very fast here, people are still buying games on the PS Store and physical media is much more cheaper. Their prices don't come out of nowhere and won't disappear out of nowhere. Sony will only do regional pricing when they start losing profit… Maybe in 2-3 years if everyone that's saying they won't buy more games or switch to Xbox really do what they're saying.
Same thing I was thinking.
Also regional pricing doesn't make sense for hardware. Sony is already taking a loss on each unit sold. Giving them away for peanuts in poorer countries when they already taking a loss on each unit sold doesn't make sense. it's not like with software where you can print infinite copies. With hardware you have a finite amount of expensive components that you can't give away for cheap.
From my little research, Series X appears to be 5000 real, which is almost twice as much as elsewhere. Switch appears to be produced locally, thus being priced at 2500, almost the same as the rest of the world.
So it's most likely because of taxes right? or not? I checked and converted it's about $926, which is quite high lol.
But the Series X is also the same price there, so it's not just Sony.
PS5 here (Indonesia) costs IDR 8.8m which is at about $600 ish (about 2 months minimum salary lol) is still lower than Brazil price.
But the Series X is also the same price there, so it's not just Sony.
PS5 here (Indonesia) costs IDR 8.8m which is at about $600 ish (about 2 months minimum salary lol) is still lower than Brazil price.
"Slams"
But also, Cory is right. I don't know how exactly the other console manufacturers are faring there, but from the little I remember you have to have production in Brazil or you're gonna get slammed with a shitload of tariffs, right?
But also, Cory is right. I don't know how exactly the other console manufacturers are faring there, but from the little I remember you have to have production in Brazil or you're gonna get slammed with a shitload of tariffs, right?
While not as bad, I believe in the Philippines, the PS5 is also slightly more expensive (close to $600?) and still way too much if you were at minimum wage there. Maybe around 3 months worth of salary
There usually isn't regional pricing for hardware.
Which is totally understandable, because each unit of hardware has a ~fixed production cost. Besides, you just know that people will buy cheap product in poor countries and resell them overseas.
There are also anti-dumping rules and laws, but I am assuming they won't apply because most poor countries probably don't have a domestic gaming console industry?
Which is totally understandable, because each unit of hardware has a ~fixed production cost. Besides, you just know that people will buy cheap product in poor countries and resell them overseas.
There are also anti-dumping rules and laws, but I am assuming they won't apply because most poor countries probably don't have a domestic gaming console industry?
Pretty much same price for PS5 and Series X. Switch is lot cheaper
I get why everyone is mad about this, the main good thing about consoles is they let the hardware be more affordable. But there's a still a minimum manufacturing cost for every unit and unless you open up an assembly line in Brazil, it's going to have a ridiculous tariff.
I wonder, does Brazil end up with a huge smuggling problem for hardware because of this?
I wonder, does Brazil end up with a huge smuggling problem for hardware because of this?
Consola PS5 825GB Play Station
Consola PS5 825GB Play Station. Compre su PS5 nuevo en nuestra tienda online, hacemos envíos a todo el país.
₡ 759.990 = $1,229.76
Our Minimum wage is around $600... It doesnt make sense...
The item above is sold out tho... They sold all the 5 units they got since December...
A little on the hyperbolic side this thread title.
I'm not sure playstation can do much about it. What are the prices of stuff like tvs, phones and cars in Brasil? Americans are not used to the prices of items like this in other countries. I live in Portugal and electronic items' prices are converted from dollars to euros on a 1 to 1 basis (they cost more than in the US), even though our minimum wage is 740€. It's like this for every country outside the USA.
I'm not sure playstation can do much about it. What are the prices of stuff like tvs, phones and cars in Brasil? Americans are not used to the prices of items like this in other countries. I live in Portugal and electronic items' prices are converted from dollars to euros on a 1 to 1 basis (they cost more than in the US), even though our minimum wage is 740€. It's like this for every country outside the USA.
The Philippine price for the disc edition is slightly about $550 whereas the digital version is slighty lower than $480.
South American pricing in general is borked compared to Europe when it comes to Playstation. They need to make a more concerted effort to bring costs down there. I know games are relatively cheaper, so there is some equalisation there. They could also introduce a more generous trade in policy for the PS4 to offset costs.
I am pretty ignorant on the situation in Brazil. Is import tax that much higher on PS5 compared to the XSX for instance?
"Slams". Really? Do you write for the Washington Post or something?
And pricing has always been an issue, also here in Europe. Sony thinks 499 USD === 499 EUR.
And pricing has always been an issue, also here in Europe. Sony thinks 499 USD === 499 EUR.
Or Brazil could not charge its citizens insane taxes on video games. That would nearly cut the final price of the console by 1/3.
Isn't the tax rate something like 40% (down from 60 or 70% a decade back)?
This is wholly unrelated, but you said you had friends buying an OLED Switch in Costa Rica....what does that cost?Consola PS5 825GB Play Station
Consola PS5 825GB Play Station. Compre su PS5 nuevo en nuestra tienda online, hacemos envíos a todo el país.tiendauniversal.com
₡ 759.990 = $1,229.76