We’re celebrating two years since the latest generation console platforms launched. Both Sony and Microsoft brought out their latest and greatest console platforms into the marketplace at a very weird time. Covid hit, and the world was out of wack with the pandemic. We dealt with quarantine orders, which ultimately brought out a struggle in both the economy and supply chain shortages. That’s why it was challenging to acquire these consoles at launch, and even today, we’re finding units barely lasting on store shelves.
So there might be some difficulties still this holiday season when venturing out to find a new console platform. With that said, it doesn’t look like the supply chain is to blame as much as it is with consumer demand for Xbox. The head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, recently spoke with The Verge about the question of supply chain shortages. According to Phil, there is a massive demand right now for Xbox consoles. Phil noted that if you go back to the past generation Xbox console platform releases, you’ll find that they are selling more consoles with this generation than ever before.
We are seeing supply strengthen for us, and demand has not really weakened. All along, while we focused a lot on the supply chain during those first two years of the console generation for us, demand has never been higher for us on Xbox.
Fortunately, Phil also noted that supply is strengthening. That’s excellent news because manufacturing the Xbox consoles won’t be a problem. However, it looks like demand is the main reason we’re finding more empty shelves. Microsoft has a tough time keeping up with supply as consumers flock to the available stock, which means it will only last for a while. If the head of Xbox had to guess, more consoles would likely be readily available on shelves when you go to stores throughout 2023.
Again, that means we might have a bit of a hard time gathering consoles up this holiday season. But with the pandemic easing up, it looks like supply chains can deliver the necessary components. However, Microsoft still has another obstacle in its pathway. We’re dealing with some economic struggles, which ultimately means that families will reevaluate where to spend funds. When questioned on what this could mean for Xbox, Phil noted that they are in the entertainment space.
We absolutely have our eyes on what’s going on in the world economic situation. We understand what video games are and that at some point families might have to make decisions away from video games. We’re not really seeing that yet. There is a little bit of slow down in certain spots, but overall, gaming activity seems to continue to be strong.
However, the entertainment space might take a bigger hit because it’s not a necessity. Phil notes that there is typically better value in games. Video games can provide longer entertainment overall, which might prove to be a better value. The Xbox head even noted that there is some slowdown in certain areas, but overall the gaming activity has continued to be strong.
