In case you haven’t noticed, PlayStation 5s are a little bit difficult to find right now. They’re out of stock in most stores, and laying hands on one is treated with the same intense focus as a big game hunt. As you’d expect, these shortages are a subject of many complaints directed towards manufacturer Sony. The company has previously stated it wants to increase the number of consoles made available, but a new report suggests it may be having supply issues for quite some time.
Bloomberg reported on a briefing Sony delivered to a group of analysts. According to the briefing, Sony has sold 7.8 million PS5s as of the end of March. It’s planning to meet a sales goal of 14.8 million units this fiscal year, which would match the number of PS4s sold at a similar age.
The PS5 has been difficult to find in part because of supply chain issues, which persist no matter how much Sony tries to fix them. And even if it did, it likely wouldn’t be able to produce enough consoles to meet the excessive demand. Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki said, “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.”
That said, Sony is counting on demand remaining high no matter what, and I think that’s a fairly safe bet. In fact, I wonder if maybe part of the mystique right now is how rare PS5s are, like finding and owning one is some kind of a mark of prestige. Also, it’s a matter of brand loyalty. Totoki also said, “We have sold more than 100 million units of the PlayStation 4, and considering our market share and reputation, I can’t imagine demand dropping easily.”
Source: Bloomberg
