If you were hoping it’d be any easier to get a PS5 this year, Sony and I have got bad news for you. According to a report from Bloomberg, Sony “warned” that PS5s would “remain in short supply through 2022.” The problem seems to be a classic supply-and-demand issue.
“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, our supply wouldn’t be able to catch up with demand,” said Hiroki Totoki, Chief Financial Officer of Sony, at a recent briefing.
The seminconductors seem to be the the culprit behind the shortages, which Sony has acknowledged since launch, and seems like it’ll remain the culprit for the next year too. It looks like without these, demand will remain high because there just won’t be enough systems to sell for a good long while. Good problem for them to have, but sucks for the rest of us.
Shortages haven’t stopped the system from selling though. The PS5 has reportedly sold 7.8 million units through March 31, and Sony is expecting to move 14.8 million more consoles through this fiscal year.
With no end in sight to the semiconductor shortage, I wouldn’t place bets on being able to walk into a store and coming out with a PS5 anytime soon. Better luck, quite literally, next year.