If you’re still trying to find a Sony PS5 for sale at your local Target or GameStop, you are not alone.
Sony PS5 shortages are expected run into 2022, according to Sony’s Chief Financial Officer, Hiroki Totoki. The dire prediction from Sony comes amid a global semiconductor shortage, which together with unprecedented global demand for home entertainment, has made it hard for the manufacturer to deliver units to retailers.
Sony are not alone in this dilemma as the large automakers are experiencing similar issues and have been forced to slow down manufacturing at plants around the globe. Cars are not being made and dealers are losing the opportunity to make up for a dismal 2020.
Sony has sold more than 7.8 million units of the new PS5 so the balance sheet for the fiscal year has shown signs of improvement. There is no question that the Sony PS5 was on track to beat sales estimates by analysts in 2020 and had no way to anticipate that the pandemic would be as disruptive to its supply chain.
“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 is said to have told analysts at a confidential briefing (via Bloomberg).
“Can we drastically increase the supply? No, that’s not likely,” Totoki reportedly said. “The shortage of semiconductors is one factor, but there are other factors that will impact on the production volume. So, at present, we’d like to aim at [beating] second year sales of 14.8 million, which was the second year of our PS4 unit.”
Sony have been unable to keep up with demand ever since the Playstation 5 launched back in November and with consumers still stuck at home in parts of Asia, Canada, and Europe, it is unlikely that demand for its best-selling console is going to abate anytime in the short-term.
Last week, Digitimes reported the Sony were considering a “change of design” in order to make it easier to produce the PS5 units faster to catch up with the demand which has been higher than Sony originally projected.
