Upcoming PS6 and Xbox gaming consoles will be very expensive or offer small performance gains, comments a known leaker

Sony Group Corporation has revealed Q3 FY2023 financial results (link to the report), at which Hiroki Totoki, the Chief Operating Officer and president, has expressed slight disappointment at the sales performance of PlayStation 5. As parsed by Genki Japan, Sony's COO explained that generating profits on the PS5 has become challenging compared to the previous Sony gaming consoles.

Hiroki Totoki described that it was cheaper to produce the previous consoles as they entered the later part of their life cycle. But with PlayStation 5 (available on Amazon), as it's aging, its parts are becoming more and more expensive.

Kepler, a hardware and AMD leaker with a good track record, commented on Hiroki Totoki's statement and predicted what it could mean for the upcoming PS6 and next-gen Xbox consoles. The tipster says (tweet embedded below) that the cost per transistor has remained stable through FinFETs (a type of field-effect transistor) but is expected to go up with GAAFETs/CFETs (better types of transistors).

To fill you in, GAAFETs/CFETs are emerging as better transistors than FinFETs. The newer transistors have a high potential for further downsizing transistors while offering better capabilities. You can learn more from Cadence's analysis found in this link.

The hardware tipster further describes that this price hike signals the end of free cost savings manufacturers enjoyed with simple die shrinks. In other words, if manufacturers want to make a leap in performance, future gaming consoles, such as PlayStation 6 and next-gen Xbox, will have significantly higher price tags. But if they want to keep the prices reasonable, the performance gains will be smaller than those of predecessors.

Considering the recent leaks around the next Microsoft consoles, Kepler's comment does appear to be on the right track. These rumors suggest that Microsoft will launch two SKUs, one being significantly less powerful than the other. But we need to wait for official announcements of PS6 and next-gen Xbox consoles to see what exactly the upcoming systems can bring to the table.