Forward thinking from Sony will shield the PS5 from US president Donald Trump’s tariffs, but only temporarily.

The manufacturer took a series of preventative measures to protect itself from any impending moves by the US government, doubling supply chains and stockpiling hardware in order to give itself a buffer.

This strategy will buy the platform holder some time, as it works through existing inventory before it’s affected by the tariffs. But it won’t last forever: unless something changes, once it’s sold through its current supply of consoles and accessories, it may be forced to raise prices.

That’s because the majority of PS5 consoles are manufactured in China, where it’d be subject tariff rates of 54%. It could potentially manufacture US units exclusively in Japan, which would lower its tariff rates to 24%, but this will still likely result in higher hardware prices for American customers.

Nico Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad explained: “The firm would need to evaluate how these tariffs impact current profit margins and how much they would need to increase hardware prices for the consumer. There could also be a potential impact on accessories and game pricing depending on how Sony wants to pass on costs.

“The good news is that the initial stockpiling, Japan manufacturing, PS5 being mid to late gen at this point (profitable on [a] per unit basis), and PS5 Pro likely [being] priced at $700 in anticipation of some potential tariff impact, means that even with a price increase, the increase may not be as significant as it would be for new tech products.”