Monday, May 10th 2021
Sony Expects Limited PlayStation 5 Availability Throughout 2022
Sony expects that the PlayStation 5 will remain in short supply throughout 2022 and will therefore be unable to boost sales targets. Sony has sold 7.8 million units through March 31st and expects total sales of 14.8 million units this financial year. Sony has been unable to increase production of the console due to global shortages in components across the semiconductor industry. The PlayStation 5 is currently keeping pace with the early sales of the popular PlayStation 4. Sony isn't the only manufacturer to be impacted by these global shortages with Microsoft and Nintendo reporting similar issues.
Source:
Bloomberg
Sony CFOI 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
21 Comments on Sony Expects Limited PlayStation 5 Availability Throughout 2022
Only so much they can blame on scalpers and the pandemic before it starts to sound a little suspicious.
When GT7 is released I hope to get a generation 2 PS5 (6nm).
I believe it is mostly being scalped and the covid causing supply chain constraints for semiconductor plants and their access to raw materials.
Over here we have few drops per week which include overpriced bundles with games from PS4 or extra gamepad. This means that instead of €499 that you'd pay for regular PS5 you pay as much as €650 for the bundle because you're being charged full price for a game that was released more then 6 months ago.
Example from today:
First bundle is €767, second is €822
Then again, I have not played a sports game on a system since NHL 95.
Again same, I skipped the PS4 because it lacked a proper GT, fortunately Xbox had a few Forzas.
FWIW, I’ve tried off and on to buy a PS5 since it’s release with no luck,......until recently. I live in the USA (although there are many days I would love to move to Canada). Anyway, about a month ago my Wife suggested we give it another go, as I had all but given up. She signed up for alerts / Tweets for stock info for the PS5 and whenever there was a heads-up we both attempted to buy from the given retailer / e-tailer. We got close a couple times for a while there. Eventually we were both successful on the same day at about the same time via GameStop. GameStop was only selling bundles which isn’t ideal but at least they use real Sony accessories (second controller) and PS5 games. Also a ~$20 GameStop gift card.
A couple of people asked us to try for them (neighbor and a family member) so we gave it another go and I was able to successfully buy a PS5 from Sony PlayStation Direct, not a bundle, just the console with one controller. That one went to my niece who was very happy to get it.
So you can definitely buy a PS5 but only if you keep trying. If you wait thinking this will pass you could be waiting a long time, a very long time indeed.
The scalpers are bottom feeders, don‘t buy from them. However, I’ve noticed that scalpers seem to be lowering their prices somewhat which is a good indication that there is more stock out there in the wild.
So in total I was able to buy three PS5 consoles new from reputable dealers,....that is if you consider GameStop a reputable dealer,......
Edit:
Now I should try and buy an RTX 3070 / 3060 class card. I came close at BestBuy once. If I could get a halfway decent video card at or near retail I would be very pleased :)
Until supplies improve, it’s akin to a lottery, you can’t win if you don‘t buy a ticket. Putting forth the effort to attempt to buy a PS5 is in a way buying that ticket.
Legitimate sellers aren’t doing enough to distinguish actual buyers from scalper. If product sells so quickly that they can’t keep it in stock they don’t necessarily see it as a bad thing. Sure they may provide lip service and a sympathetic ear but they don’t care.
And then there is the semiconductor shortage.
BTW, the Sony PlayStation Direct site does seem to be random. When we were trying to buy the third PS5 my Wife was already waiting in a queue when she asked my to try (after receiving stock alerts via tweet). When I eventually tried I was added to a queue too but somehow my queue went much faster and I was able to actually buy. I finalized the purchase while my wife (who was there first) was still waiting in a queue.
I don’t want to be a dirty dream killing scalper either (turns head slightly and spits).
Also the PS5 units I was able to secure were essentially gifts so you can’t take back gifts.