Sony said it is trying very hard to eliminate the shortage of PlayStation 5, but cannot due to lack of components
Sony cannot ramp up the PlayStation 5 due to a shortage of semiconductors and other components. This was announced during a briefing by the financial director of the corporation Hiroki Totoki. He explained that Sony is doing its best to remedy the situation.
Totoki also recalled that Sony is selling PlayStation 5 consoles at a loss in terms of pricing because the cost of the components is higher than the market price of the device. Journalists point out that this may change in the future due to production optimization.
As noted by ArsTechnica, this is standard practice for new gaming devices because losses are offset by user spending on digital services and much more. For example, according to Sony, 87% of PS5 owners have a PS Plus subscription. This source is likely to become one of the key sources of the company’s future income.
Besides, the share of digital sales on PlayStation is growing every year. In 2020, this figure reached 63% of all video games on the platform. For comparison, in 2018, it was 43%, and in 2019 – 55%. Besides, Sony still benefits from the pandemic: in December 2020, users spent 30% more time playing games than in 2019.
Earlier, Sony published a report in which it shared the results of sales of the PlayStation 5. In less than two months, the company sold 4.5 million consoles. A similar result was achieved by the PlayStation 4 after its release.
