The tech industry was definitely preparing for something like this for some time now.
Sony has explained their own reaction to the US tariff policy and their business.
This was first shared on Twitter by Genki_JPN, as a dedicated segment of Sony’s presentation for their latest financial meeting. You can watch that presentation here. We’re sharing a transcript of that segment below.
“Now, I would like to explain our response to US tariff policy.
In order to respond to various geopolitical risks in our G&S, ET&S, and I&SS segments, which handle hardware, over the past few years, we have been working to duplicate our supply chains and increase their flexibility.
Furthermore, we have been preparing recently by doing such things as stockpiling a certain level of strategic inventory in the US, and we expect the impact on our financial performance this fiscal year of the additional US import tariffs that have been implemented, or whose considerations have been announced, at this point in time to be minor.
We intend to continue to respond flexibly and promptly to changing circumstances and implement at the appropriate time additional measures that we are preparing in order to minimize the impact on our business and earnings.”
For those who were curious, these are the abbreviations for Sony’s business segments:
- G&S – Game & Network Services
- ET&S – Entertainment, Technology & Services
- I&SS – Imaging & Sensing Solutions
So clearly, Sony is talking about their entire business, not just PlayStation. That certainly puts them in a strong position to respond to the situation, as Sony certainly has factories and sources materials all around the world, and they have a dedicated distribution center for their products across the world as well.
At the start of this month, the ESA gave warnings that these planned tariffs have potential to harm the video game industry, not only in the US, but around the world. Subsequently, Nintendo shared their contingency plans for the US tariffs, which were particularly important for the pending launch of the Switch 2.
While the words used were different, Sony and Nintendo essentially said the same thing. Nintendo also has a diversified supply chain, with manufacturing happening outside of China in places like Vietnam and Cambodia. Nintendo, like Sony, is paying attention to ‘geopolitical risks’. Overall, both companies believe the next financial results will show a minimal impact from these tariffs.
For their part, Microsoft and Valve may not necessarily have to worry as much about the impact of tariffs as American companies. But they should probably also be asked about their responses to tariffs anyway, since a lot of manufacturing of tech still goes through China, even if they themselves didn’t plan it that way.
The tech industry in general had been anticipating these potential threats in less than a decade, so they definitely made preparations for it. Given the general malaise in the business side of the industry, they really can’t afford to deal with more issues like this.
