Sony said it shouldn’t count on increasing PlayStation 5 shipments this year
In its latest financial report, Sony noted that the supply of PlayStation 5 game consoles is unlikely to improve significantly over the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2022.
The company previously reported shipments of 7.8 million PS5 game consoles in the first five months of sales. This is 200 thousand units of consoles more than the PlayStation 4 was delivered during the same period. Sony said its current target for its second fiscal year is more than 14.8 million next-gen consoles sold.
During an investor meeting that announced the latest financial results, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki noted that the company does not hope to fully address the supply issues seen since the PS5’s inception. He also added that the company is looking for various ways to improve the situation by supplying critical components of the set-top box, changing its design, and finding other suppliers.
“As I noted earlier, we are aiming for higher sales of consoles than the PS4 sold at the time. But can we significantly increase the supply? No, this is unlikely. The shortage of semiconductor products is one of the stopping factors, but other factors affect production volumes. And yet, to date, we have set a goal to surpass 14.8 million consoles sold in the second year of sales. These are the numbers that the PlayStation 4 console showed in its second year of sales, ”commented Sony’s CFO.
Commenting on the semiconductor shortage affecting the entire consumer device market, from smartphones to cars, Totoki noted that Sony is considering several ways to address the issue.
“For example, we could look for alternative sources of supply of components or change the design of the attachment. Our Electronics Products & Solutions (EP&S) department made similar flexibility in fiscal 2021. We liked how he was able to adapt to the situation, ”said Mr. Totoki.
It wasn’t just Sony that faced supply problems. In its latest financial statement, Microsoft also noted that shipping problems for Xbox Series X and Series consoles would, unfortunately, persist over the coming months.
