by Jonathan Wilkie
In quite expected news, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony have written letters opposing The recent Trump administrations trade tariffs hike of 25%. What is surprising is it comes in the form of a single letter jointly signed by all 3 parties.
It is known that almost 96 per cent of all modern consoles are made in China and imported into the United States and other countries. Recently China and America are in a bitter dispute surrounding trade and accusations of stealing trade secrets have caused the relationship to sour to the point that Google ™ have withdrawn android support for all Huawei (don’t worry up to the P30 and Mate 20 are protected if you have or are about to buy these phones)
Put simply, the detailed letter stipulates that the hike would make consoles more out of reach than they have ever been. Leaving the main 3 companies to either take the tariff hike which would pass on costs to the corporations raising the take-home price of the console. Which would be typically passed globally or they would look have to look at moving production out of China which would incur even further costs but would help future proof against further trade tariffs increase
Suffice to say we are approaching the 9th and now in all probability the most expensive next generation of our time. Consoles are already typically sold at a loss in general with the profit coming from the services the consoles offer. A hike would make this hole much bigger for the console kings to make up for and with consoles already at such a premium at around the £250 – 450 could result in consumers forced to pay more for games and services.
Here is the letter in its entirety:
More on this story as it develops…
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