Skip to main content

Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft say Chinese tariffs will make game consoles pricier

In an uncharacteristic show of camaraderie, the three major players in the video gaming console industry – Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft – have today banded together to warn the US government of the negative impact its proposed tariffs would have on the industry.

An open letter has been sent to a representative of the US government after it asked for public comment on its proposal of a 25% tariff on all goods manufactured in China. 

This would include a huge range of consumer electronics, including video game consoles made by the three companies – the Sony PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Xbox One.

The letter makes the point that “Video games are a core part of the fabric of American entertainment culture” and that “two out of three households have at least one video game player and 60% of Americans play video games daily.” 

The letter goes on to claim that “a price increase of 25% will likely put a new video game console out of reach for many American families who we expect to be in the market for a console this holiday season. For those purchases that do go forward despite tariffs, consumers would pay $840 million more than they otherwise would have.”

The three companies state that more than 96% of all consoles in the US in 2018 were manufactured in China and, given the entrenched nature and already-tight margins of such production, any shift in this process would cause significantly increased costs of the products, which would be carried directly by US consumers.

The overarching intention of the letter is to highlight the “disproportionate harm caused by these tariffs” compared with the preservation of the US tech industry, which is what the proposed tariffs supposedly seek to address.

Higher video game console pricing isn't the only adverse affect of the tariffs the letter addresses, with the document also claiming the taxation changes would “put thousands of high-value, rewarding US jobs at risk and stifle innovation in our industry”, which in turn would negatively impact the overall US economy.

The government has yet to issue a formal response to the open letter.



from TechRadar - All the latest technology news https://ift.tt/2KMgGuX

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The future of Magic Leap's promising AR efforts dim after layoffs

The Magic Leap Two is now further away than ever, unfortunately. Today in a blog post the augmented reality pioneer announced major layoffs and has decided to cut up to half of its workforce, according to some reports. The original Magic Leap One was supposed to be one of the first mainstream augmented reality headsets when it launched in 2018, but a high price point and lack of interest from developers left the headset high and dry after launch. According to the blog post, Magic Leap says it will be focusing its efforts on enterprise solutions (a statement HTC has made recently as well) and shift its focus away from consumer technology… at least for the time being.  The company has been open about creating a second headset that would offer improved specs for some time, but how that work will now have to go forward without half of the team , according to some estimates, remains to be seen. Is the window closing on augmented reality?  Although it’s just one company, Magic...

Google Docs, Search and Translate and pushing Edge users to switch to Chrome

Microsoft's new and improved Edge browser seems to be giving Google some cause for concern, and the company is now using its hugely popular online services to nudge recently converted Edge users back towards Chrome. Last week, it emerged that Google was attempting to scare Edge users into switching browsers when they visited the Chrome Web Store to grab some extensions. Chrome and Edge use the same Chromium engine, so plug-ins built for one will work in both. However, users visiting the Chrome Web Store using Edge are now shown a warning message stating "Google recommends switching to Chrome to use extensions securely." Find out how to get Chrome dark mode You can also get Gmail dark mode Finally, why not try WhatsApp dark mode ? As TechDows and MicrosoftPoweruser report, Google is now becoming even more pushy, presenting Edge users with pop-up alerts when they visit various services, including Docs, Translate, Search and Drive. Feeling tempted? These notifica...