Sony Japan announces 14% price hike on cameras, lenses and other products coming on February 1st

Sony has announced a long list, covering pretty much every product type they make, that will see an average 14% price hike coming on February 1st. The company cites a range of factors, including the cost of raw materials, manufacturing and distribution – all “external environment” issues beyond their control – as the cause for the price increase.

The company lists is Bravia TVs, Blu-Ray players and recorders, sound bars, home theatre systems, and more, including “digital single-lens camera, digital single-lens camera α [E-mount] lens, digital video camera, digital still camera, professional camcorders”. Fortunately, for the rest of the world, it seems that the price increases may be limited to sales within Japan for now, although this may expand into other regions at some point.

Sony’s announcement is targeted towards consumers, although their corporate products will also be seeing a price increase, too, come February 1st. The entire (Google-translated) notice reads as follows:

From February 1, 2023, Sony Marketing Inc. will revise the manufacturer’s shipping prices for some products sold in Japan.

Due to the impact of the recent external environment, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing, and distribution has soared, so we will revise the shipping price as follows.

At the same time, we will revise the suggested retail price for products that have set the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.

In addition, from February 1, 2023, we will revise the manufacturer’s shipping price for some corporate products as well.

Digging a little deeper beyond broad categories, Sony has published a list of all affected products in a PDF file. The list is in Japanese, although the model numbers are pretty universal, and it’s easy to spot the Sony Alpha cameras and lenses in there – including popular models like the Sony A7S III, A7C, A7 IV, FX3 and recently released FX30.

Sony isn’t the only company that’s been announcing price increases. Nikon, Canon, Leica, Fujifilm and others have also made price increases over the last year, with some making multiple price increase announcements throughout the previous 12 months. And Sony is now one of those with multiple announcements, having raised prices 8% on September 1st, 2022, including their Sony Alpha E-Mount cameras and lenses.

With the new price increase coming in February, that’s a 23.12% total average cost increase compared to six months ago. That’s a pretty big leap!

[via PetaPixel]