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Bloomberg: Sony Lowers PlayStation 5 Production by 1 Million Units
posted on by Alex Mateo
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Sony has reduced the number of PlayStation 5 units that it will assemble from 16 million to about 15 million units for the fiscal year ending March 2022 due to ongoing component shortages.
Bloomberg reported that a Japanese game publisher has stated that customers are now gradually shifting to purchasing the PC edition as opposed to PlayStation versions of its games. According to chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki, PS5 sales in the quarter ending September 30 were slightly weaker than expectations.
Bloomberg reported in May that Totoki had revealed in a briefing following Sony's financial results report in late April that the PlayStation 5 is expected to remain in short supply through 2022. According to Bloomberg, which reported based on several anonymous people, Totoki said, "I 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."
During the briefing, Sony stated that the PS5 has been difficult to keep in stock since launch partly due to shortages in components such as semiconductors.
Sony expects to sell at least 14.8 million units for this fiscal year.
As of July, Sony has sold over 10 million units of the PS5 worldwide since its launch in November 2020. This makes the PS5 Sony's fastest-selling console.
President and CEO of SIE Jim Ryan acknowledged that despite the PS5's sales momentum, there is still a shortage of consoles with supply continuing to exceed demand. He stated that "improving inventory levels remains a top priority."
The PS5 launched in the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea on November 12, 2020. The console launched in most of the rest of the world on November 19, 2020. The PS5 retails for US$499.99, and the PS5 Digital Edition (which does not include an optical disc drive) retails for US$399.99.
Nikkei Asia reported that Nintendo will only be able to produce about 24 million units of the Nintendo Switch, about 20% less than its previously planned production estimate of 30 million units, for the fiscal year ending in March 2022. This is due to shortages of semiconductors and other electronic parts, as well as strong demand for the Switch. This number includes the newer Switch OLED model and Switch Lite consoles.
Source: Bloomberg (Takashi Mochizuki) via Siliconera
