If you were planning on buying Sony’s next-generation game console this year, you might be out of luck. According to a Bloomberg report, the Japanese tech giant has lowered its domestic production forecasts for the PlayStation 5 due to the chip shortage that is plaguing the global electronics industry. The company apparently expected 16 million PS5 units to be produced between April 2021 and March 2022, but lowered that figure by a million due to supply constraints. However, this is still among the PlayStation 5 consoles that Sony planned to sell within the year.
The company previously said it would likely sell 14.8 million PS5 units during the year, meaning 15 million should still cut revenue and profits. However, this also means that new buyers or those who have been in trouble may not get a chance to get their hands on the device. Consumers won’t worry too much about what Sony stock looks like, but if so, this change in production numbers could send the company’s stock down.
Having said that, if you’re not in too much of a hurry, then there’s a good chance you’ll get a PS5 announcement in April 2022. According to reports, Sony’s internal projections say it will sell up to 22.6 million units. PS5 consoles during the next fiscal year starting in April 2022. However, these reports also mention that Sony’s production partners are not as optimistic about these production and sales figures as the Japanese giant.
This is understandable, given that manufacturing companies around the world are struggling to meet the needs of electronics manufacturers. Sony is also not the first company to cut forecasts. Apple also had to scale back its production plans for the iPhone 13 series this year due to the same supply restrictions.
We’ve already explained the global chip shortage in this story, but the industry is suffering from other supply constraints as well. For example, global transportation costs have skyrocketed and delivery availability has also declined.