PlayStation 5 Portable and PlayStation 6 console predictions by Goldman Sachs given credence by PS5 launch date

An interesting prediction reportedly made by Goldman Sachs back in 2017 has been brought back to life thanks to its partially accurate content (so far). The PlayStation report by the investment banking company was tweeted about by Bloomberg journalist Takashi Mochizuki but wasn’t taken particularly seriously at the time, with noted gaming industry analyst Daniel Ahmed commenting “I love companies that make up random stuff”.

The supposed predictions from Goldman Sachs were “2020 – PlayStation 5, 2023 – PlayStation 5 Portable, 2027 – PlayStation 6”. We already know that Sony has trademarked PS6 (and PS7, PS8, PS9, and PS10), and Sony releasing a console in 2027 with the PS6 moniker isn’t too hard to believe. However, the PlayStation 5 Portable (PS5P?) seems to be much more unlikely, especially as the PS Vita couldn’t emulate the incredible sales of the PSP.

But the handheld game console market has been revitalized, thanks to Nintendo. While many felt mobile gaming on smartphones was the only way forward, the Nintendo Switch ignored that belief and sold in its millions (over 55 million units shipped). However, while the Switch is a hybrid console, the Nintendo Switch Lite is not. It’s a full-fledged handheld that sold in the region of six million units within its first six months of release. Sony might want to emulate that success in the near future with a portable variant of the upcoming PS5.

So a PlayStation 5 Portable might be on the cards or it might not. It’s interesting speculation that has been brought back into the light thanks to @PS5only. Funnily enough, the source partially responsible for the rumor that Sony was going to announce PS5 pre-orders on July 13 made a recent sardonic comment about the prediction, wondering if Goldman Sachs would also lose credibility if these things didn’t come to pass. Maybe the investment firm meant 2023 was the year for a more likely PlayStation 5 Pro console launch instead.