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Many video game fans around the world are still engaged in closely watching updates from PS5 restock trackers due to the continuing limited supply of Sony’s latest-generation console. Unfortunately, the situation is not expected to ease up anytime soon.
Sony exec says limited supply like to extend into 2022
An executive of the Japanese conglomerate has reportedly warned that they do not expect the high demand for PS5 to slow down this year. Constrained PS5 restock can then be expected through 2022.
Bloomberg reports Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki has told a group of analysts in late April that Sony expects the high demand for PS5 to continue beyond this year. On top of the high demand, the PS5 production is still limited due to several factors, including the limited supply of parts and semiconductors.
Totoki is said to be confident that the demand for PS5 is not mainly reliant on stay-at-home policies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Totoki also pointed to the performance of PS4, which has sold over 115 million units as of last February. “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 reportedly said.
PS5 sales have exceeded the performance of PS4 during their first fiscal year in the market. The new console sold 7.8 million units from November 2020 to the end of March 2021 compared to 7.6 million PS4 units shipped within the same timeline. Amid the high demand and production challenges, Sony aims for the PS5 to beat PS4’s record of 14.8 million units sold by the end of the current fiscal year.
Redesigned PS5 underway to solve shortages?
Totoki mentioned during Sony’s latest earnings call that they are considering other ways to deal with the parts shortage. The Sony exec provided, as an example, that the company could look for a “secondary source” or tweak the console’s design to ease up production woes.
The redesign, however, refers to the internal components of the console. Following Totoki’s pronouncements, Sony has been rumored to potentially use a semi-customized AMD processor for the slightly altered PS5. Its production is reportedly planned to start around the second or third quarter of 2022.
Photo by Harpal Singh on Unsplash
