by 
We've already heard a lot about the ongoing component crisis and how it's affecting the price of current-gen consoles, and therefore there's a lot of concern about Xbox Project Helix and the PS6 and how expensive they'll ultimately be.
The folks over at Ampere Analysis (via VGC) have published a new (private) report that suggests three ways Microsoft and Sony can keep their next-gen consoles under $1,000, as they fear that otherwise, we'll be looking at a future where 38% less systems are sold in the first five years compared to the Xbox Series and PS5 generation.
There's also a suggestion that the games and services market could be over $3 billion lower as a result.
So, the first method that's mentioned here is to delay the Xbox Project Helix (and PS6) launch until after 2028, basically in the hope that the component crisis will ease by then. Team Xbox have already commented on how they expect things to get worse in 2027, but it remains to be seen what the future will hold beyond that point.
The second method is to still aim for a 2028 window (which apparently is what's expected by analysts), but take advantage of "heavier hardware subsidies, new monetisation models, more aggressive digital content strategies and optimised sales channels".
Finally, the third method is to really focus on doing something different and innovating in terms of hardware, rather than trying to push the boundaries of graphical capability. In other words, think about what Nintendo did with the Wii and the Switch - they weren't visual powerhouses, but they offered something new and innovative that attracted consumers.
None of this is out of the realms of possibility, either - Asha Sharma recently highlighted the need to "innovate" in order to reduce the price of Xbox Project Helix, so who knows what might be in store.