PS5 hardware stock woes likely to continue into 2022

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In a private briefing with investors, Sony has reportedly told shareholders that it expects𒉰 the short supply woes currently bothering its PS5 hardware to continue for the foreseeable future, throughou🎶t 2021 and leading into 2022.

While the PS5 has gotten off to an incredibly strong start sales-wise — even beating out the launch numbers of the previous generation’s PS4 — a shortage of manufacturing components hangs heavy over the industry, with Sony expect demand to far exceed that of production. , Sony Japan has openly addressed this problem in a meeting held not long after the release of its latest financial earnings report.

“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,” Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki reportedly told investors “We have sold more than 100 million units of the PlayStation 4 and considering our market share and reputation, I can’t imagine demand [for PS5] dropping easily.”

The shortage of PS5 consoles is, essentially, a two-pronged attack on customers. At the supply level, a lack of internal components is causing slow production of the physical console itself, while at the retail level, customers have struggled in battles with scalpers and multi-buyers to bag what little hardware hits the market. Add to the mix production delays and distribution issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and it’s easy to see why all major publishers — not just Sony — are struggling to get their wares into the hands of the public.

Sony has shipped over 7.8 million PlayStation 5 units since its release in ൩November 2020. The corporation forecasts to have sold 14.8 million conso🐼les by the end of the current fiscal year.