Sony said it intends to ramp up production of PS5 consoles to increase supply before the end of 2022 and the holiday season.
Sony made the announcement in its latest earnings results (opens in new tab)in which he also explains that both software sales and gameplay engagement have dropped year over year, stating that engagement in particular is “a much lower level of engagement than we anticipated in our previous forecast”.
As a result of this, Sony says it intends to “take steps to increase user engagement in the second half of the fiscal year, during which major titles, including top-tier software, are scheduled to be released.” Your main way of doing this will be “increasing the supply of PlayStation 5 [PS5] hardware and promoting the new PlayStation Plus service.”
Sony says it is not changing its initial forecast of selling 18 million units for this financial year. This optimism stems from “a recovery from the impact of the lockdown in Shanghai and a significant improvement in component supplies”. Sony hopes it can ramp up production and increase supply ahead of the holiday season, saying, “We’re working to bring more supply into the holiday sales season.”
This isn’t the first time Sony has talked about ramping up production this year. In June, Veronica Rogers, SIE’s Head of Global Sales and Business Operations, said GamesIndustry.biz (opens in new tab)“We are planning a significant increase in PS5 production this year and are working tirelessly to ensure the PlayStation 5 is available to everyone who wants one.”
Since the console’s launch in November 2020, Sony and anyone looking to buy a PS5 has been struggling with inventory shortages. Despite these shortcomings, the console It is still selling, now having reached 21.7 million units sold globally. It’s worth noting, though, that supply issues are wreaking havoc for Sony, with reports that the Xbox Series family of consoles has recently started outselling the PS5 in Japan, which is a big deal.
Looking up
It’s safe to say the PS5 has been hard to find thanks to a mix of high demand, component shortages, pandemic and money changers. This news is, to say the least, promising for anyone still desperately looking for PS5 stock. It seems reasonable to expect, however, that it will be a constant build of availability rather than a sudden deluge of consoles.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in May 2022, for example, that the global chip and semiconductor crisis that affected consoles could continue into 2024. Gelsinger said that chip shortages have started to affect the manufacturing machines responsible. by creating tokens in the first place.
“That’s part of why we believe the general semiconductor shortage will now reach 2024, from our previous estimates in 2023, just because the shortage has hit equipment and some of those factory ramps will be more challenged,” Gelsinger said.
But things are definitely looking up. Alongside this Sony news, Valve announced this week that, thanks to an easing of supply chain issues, it can ramp up Steam Deck production and fulfill all reservations by the end of 2022.
Overall, things look brighter, and hopefully, with Sony’s component restrictions seemingly easing in Shanghai, we’ll start to see more PS5 stock available for those looking to make the most of upcoming platform exclusives like God of War: Ragnarok and new features like recently added 1440p support.
