When the PS5 and Xbox Series X shortage will end
The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X game consoles went on sale in November 2020, with pre-orders starting two months earlier and lasting just… one day. However, even some people who wanted to buy the consoles and ordered them on the day of taking orders had to cancel and return prepayments.
On the day of launch of PS5, 19 November 2020, it was impossible to buy the console, because there were several times more people interested in buying the novelty than the devices that arrived in the retail chains. Why did this happen? There are several reasons.
The coronavirus pandemic led, among other things, to a decline in industrial production, including in the production of electronics. Businesses were shut down and people were forced to take time off work, but only after mass vaccination began did the situation begin to stabilise. At the same time, however, during the pandemic the demand for electronics essential for working remotely and for passing the time that people had previously spent on entertainment outside the home increased significantly. In other words, gaming consoles began to sell out rapidly. This, combined with a significant reduction in production volumes, created a shortage of devices.
The situation did not improve in 2021, even though the pandemic began to recede little by little. One problem was replaced by another: the logistics crisis. In particular, there was a period when about five million containers of various goods were stuck in the Far East, waiting to be shipped to recipients. And delivery times for goods from China have doubled. The media reported that Sony also complained about big problems with the supply of components for its products, including – and for PlayStation 5. Therefore, the manufacturer as hard as it tried, could not meet the skyrocketing demand.
The company’s plan for 2022 – 22.6 million consoles, but their number may not be enough, because we will have to “close” debts in 2021.
The situation is not improved by the activity of resellers, who buy games consoles and sell them through online shops at more than twice the price than the retailers who receive the goods from the manufacturers. The trading organisations are fighting this by trying to sell the consoles as a set with various accessories. But this campaign has not been very successful.
Another problem hindering shortages is the significantly increased demand for semiconductors and chips recently. Their manufacturers such as Toshiba and Intel, respectively, argue that shortages are unlikely to be overcome during 2022.
It is noted that problems could be felt even in 2023.
Therefore, in such a situation, quite a number of gamers have to make do with the Xbox Series S – a cheaper device, but freely available. However, the Xbox Series S is a modern enough non-clockgen console to meet the requirements of today’s gamers.
