Sony blames import tax for $1.8K PS4 asking price in Brazil

Sony revealed last week that its upcoming PlayStation 4 console will cost 3,999 Brazilian Real in Brazil, or around $1840. With consumers in the country extremely unhappy with the price, the company has blamed taxes for the high asking price. In a post on the official PlayStation blog for Brazil, the brand's Latin America general manager Mark Stanley explained that nearly two-thirds of that asking price goes towards import taxes in Brazil, while another 22 percent goes to distributors. The company claims that it is actually charging around $400 for the console before all of this is added on. In fact, the company says that it has knocked around $120 off the actual price to finish on this 3,999 Brazilian Real figure. Stanley noted that the company is not happy about this arrangement, stating that "it is not good for our consumers, and it is not good for the PlayStation brand." In comparison, it is reported that Microsoft's Xbox One will cost around 2,200 Brazilian Real, as it is suggested that Microsoft is not subject to some of these import taxes.