Sony WH-1000XM6 launching in May, but TARIFFS could delay it...
The Sony WH-1000XM6 might be coming sooner than we think. In my last post about this, I said it might come in July or earlier because of its FCC filing’s short term confidentiality date of 22nd July 2025. But it may be much earlier according to TheWalkmanBlog who says it could be launched in the first few weeks of May, according to his sources.
This does echo what happened with the WH-1000XM5 headphones. Those were launched on May 12th 2022, and hit the shelves on May 20th. So we could see a repeat of that in some way, perhaps a launch in the 2nd week? (I hope not, because I’ll be in New Zealand at that time, and I really really want to test them as soon as they are available.) Regardless, when I do get my hands on them I will be reviewing them, so bookmark this site if you don’t want to miss that review.
About Tarrifs…
That being said, there is a possibility that they could be slightly delayed due to the Trump tariffs. Sony hasn’t made any official announcements yet, which gives them a lot of room to maneuver in case they decide that ‘hey, we’ve got to raise prices and sort out all the logistics before we’re ready to ship to customers.’
That’s right. I think the XM6 might end up being the most expensive wireless headphones from Sony till date if they’re not able to absorb the cost of the tariffs.
We already know that the XM6 is made in Malaysia and the tax rate for Malaysia is 24 percent. I’m not an economist but if I were Sony, I might try my best to reduce that sticker shock and not increase the price by 24 percent, because that would put the potential price at nearly 500 USD which is almost at the AirPods Max’s level.
Instead Sony may choose to only raise the price by 10-12% to take into account that tariffs are lower across the rest of the market and could potentially offset what the US is charging.
What they may also try to do is to delay the launch till the waters are calm, in case countries like Malaysia could work out a deal with the US, so the 24% becomes 10% because it seems to me that Trump is using these high tariffs as a negotiating tactic, and there is a possibility for tariffs to come down.
Or they may decide to raise prices anyway and if tariffs do come down, hey, better profit margin! Either way, lots of room for Sony to maneuver since they haven’t officially announced.
