A report by Bloomberg suggests that Sony has lowered its PlayStation 5 production estimates for the upcoming fiscal year by as much as 4 million units.
It seems that the problem simply comes down to manufacturing issues. Specifically, the report cites production shortages for the PlayStation 5’s “custom-designed system-on-chip.” The report suggests that Sony attempted to boost production and hardware acquisition earlier in 2020 when they anticipated the logistical issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the company has just not been able to meet even their reduced targets.
The report also notes that Sony currently intends to produce about 11 million PlayStation 5 by the end of the fiscal year (which, assuming that applies to the 2020 fiscal year, would fall on September 30). Again, we have to assume that all of this information is accurate, but if that is the case, then that would likely mean that there will be about 11 million PlayStation 5s available when the console launches later this year. More consoles will be produced beyond that (and that figure is subject to change), but that number does strongly suggest that it could be tough to simply buy a PS5 at launch (especially if you don’t pre-order one).
For what it’s worth, video game analyst Daniel Ahmad noted on Twitter that Sony intends to use air shipping in order to get PS5s to retailers as quickly as possible. He also states that the air shipping process is much more expensive, but it currently seems like Sony will likely “eat” those costs rather than attempt to pass them on to consumers immediately. We’ll have to wait to hear what the PS5’s launch price is, though, before we can dive into that topic further.
Sony’s stock actually dropped a bit upon the reveal of this news, which isn’t too surprising given the nature of the market, but it’s been pretty clear for quite some time now that the launch of the PlayStation 5 will be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, this news is hardly a shock, but hearing the figures (or at least estimates of the figures) does paint a clearer picture of what the PlayStation 5’s upcoming launch will look like in terms of hardware availability.
While we also suspect that production of the Xbox Series X/S will also be negatively impacted by the pandemic, we’re still waiting for Microsoft to clarify what their production estimates are. In any case, some are already speculating that the Xbox Series S’ $299 price tag may have already inspired Sony to adjust its own launch plans in some way.
The post PlayStation 5 Launch Shortage Likely As Sony Reportedly Cuts Production Estimates appeared first on Den of Geek.
From https://www.denofgeek.com/games/playstation-5-launch-shortage-production-rumors/
