Don't expect to get your hands on a PS5 this year.
Credit: SonyIt’s been tough for gamers to find a PlayStation 5 and even tougher if you don’t want to spend exorbitant prices on eBay.
Thanks to a variety of factors—COVID-19 impacting supply chains and manufacturing, the rise of scalpers with bot-driven tech and incredibly high demand—the PS5 is a hard-to-come by gadget. After dealing with Nintendo Switch shortages at the beginning of the pandemic, it’s a bummer to deal with a similar problem for the PS5 and Xbox Series X, the two new-gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft respectively.
But it gets worse—because of course it gets worse! Life is terrible.
Far from assuaging consumers’ concerns, Sony has taken a realistic approach to the supply shortage—dashing, rather than inflating, our hopes. This is commendable if still disappointing. Better to set our expectations low than to promise and not deliver. This leaves room for pleasant surprises.
In any case, Sony Executive Deputy President and CFO Hiroki Totoki served as the bearer of bad news recently during an earnings call.
“I don’t think demand is calming down this year and even if we secure a lot more devices and produce many more units of the PlayStation 5 next year, our supply wouldn’t be able to catch up with demand,” Totoki told analysts (via Bloomberg).
Sony says it sold 7.8 million PS5 units between launch and March 31st, and the company is projecting 14.8 million units sold through the fiscal year. For context, the PS4 has sold just under 116 million units since November of 2013. Even with supply shortages, this places the PS5 in a very similar trajectory to its predecessor.
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Sales of all things video game have been boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic, though Sony notes a drop in active monthly users on the PlayStation Network in its latest quarter. That number fell to 109 million users between January and March 2021, down from 114 million the previous quarter. Then again, with schools reopening and no Christmas break to account for, a drop in users makes sense.
Hopefully we see an increased supply and an end to the scalping in 2022, though holiday 2021 would be more ideal for all concerned. Whether Sony will shift production to a PS5 Pro model remains to be seen, but it’s entirely possible given the component issues the company is facing now. We shall see.
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The Link LonkMay 23, 2021 at 10:30PM
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