Japanese multinational Sony Corp. plans to produce less than 6 million units of its upcoming PlayStation 5 in its first year, which is far fewer than it had for the previous-generation console’s launch, according to Bloomberg.

This is largely assumed to be due to the manufacturing cost of the product, which is posing difficulty on the company to maintain the selling price below $450, as well as the global COVID-19 pandemic that has affected Sony’s promotional plans. Sony previously  released the PlayStation 4 in November 2013 for  $399 and sold 7.5 million units during its first two quarters.

According to Bloomberg, game developers have anticipated the PS5 to be priced $499 to $549. The higher price margins are due to increased component costs, and the containment of scarce materials, which require the company to elevate the price per unit in order to meet break even.

The strategy that Sony plans to implement, according to sources familiar with its plans, will be to rely on incumbent PlayStation 4 models and to sell them at a lower cost during the time of the PS5 launch in order to stimulate new subscribers onto the PlayStation Plus membership program and PlayStation Now game-streaming service.

Sony currently sells the PS4 for $300 and the higher-end PS4 Pro for $400, but it is expected that these prices will be cut around the time of the new launch.

The Sony Chief Executive Officer Kenichiro Yoshida has stated the company will “aim to increase recurring revenue rather than one-time hardware purchases.”

The PS5 production volume could change depending on how situations evolve with the pandemic, but Sony remains unlikely to delay the launch of the PS5 from Holiday season. Especially if archrival Microsoft Corp. doesn’t delay the release of its next-generation Xbox, which is also expected at the end of the year.