Even allowing software to be sold at different prices in different countries already has far more financial ramifications than people expect - the grey market seriously impacts the profitability of sales in high-earning countries, and it fosters a whole black-market of cdkeys that are purchased using stolen cards/etc and used for money laundering. But with hardware it is a very straightforward "this costs $X to R&D and $Y to build and we're not going to sell it to you for 20% less than everyone else", you're seeing the grey market die out even in traditional strongholds like cameras.

Also, PS5 is a console designed around hardware profitability. They reached profitability around 6-9 months after launch and they don't want to go backward. Everyone finally said enough is enough after PS3 losing hundreds of dollars per console, and the PS4 and XB1 are much more conservative designs with integrated hardware to cut costs, and they reached profitability fairly quickly. PS5 succeeds this and Sony absolutely does not want to go back to the "loss-leader hardware" model.

Prices are sticky, companies don't always want to adjust them every time $FXE has a bad week, but... Sony isn't interested in selling to multiple major markets at a discount that pushes their hardware into the "subsidized" territory. And they've been down for a while now. For everyone else, their cost-reduction in the console itself has been sufficient to hold the price down, but you don't get a discount like you normally would a couple years into the lifecycle. But for the markets where there have been big currency depreciations on top... they are adjusting it.

If you can’t afford it at the new price, it probably wouldn’t have been a wise purchase at the original price.

Sony is a business. Their costs have gone up markedly and when the hardware is already subsidised, it’s unrealistic to not expect increased costs to be passed on.

I recall that the original Playstation 3 was a massive loss leader. Despite being hugely expensive it was pretty much the cheapest Blu Ray player on the market at the time. They were able to sell it at a loss because gaining a foothold was critical to selling it for a profit later on and the projected savings would let them recoup their losses.

If cost of living and inflation weren't crazy right now across the world then I'm sure we'd be looking at a price drop on the Playstation 5 right now as that's where their projected margins would leave them. But factoring in both the cost savings and inflation means they still need a price rise just to keep on track.

It took me 18 months for the chance to buy one from Sony Direct. It'd be crazy for Sony not to adjust prices when demand is through the roof.