Bad news for gamers looking to brighten up their lockdown with the PS5, the new game console from the Japanese electronics giant Sony. Supply chain issues are causing the stock of the highly anticipated PS5 console almost exhausted, even before the European launch.
On November 12th, the PS5 was officially released in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Europe and the rest of the world will follow on 19 November.
Chip problems
Al in september Bloomberg news agency warned that Sony was forced to produce just 11 million units of the highly anticipated successor to the PS4 this fiscal year, instead of the anticipated 15 million.
There would have been a problem with the production process of the system chip of the new console. At that time, the American chipmaker AMD only achieved a ‘success rate’ of 50 percent for the so-called SOC chips, an important part of the PS5. Of every 10 chips finished, only 5 were of satisfactory quality, Bloomberg said.
Both Sony and AMD denied that there were any problems.
Rush on the presale
Still, early this month, Sony itself warned of potential shortages, “due to the huge number of pre-orders”. During the first 12 hours of the pre-sale, Sony said that it sold as many consoles in the US as during the first 12 weeks after the pre-sale of the predecessor PS4.
Jim Ryan, head of Sony’s gaming division, then warned that “it’s possible that not everyone who wants to buy a PS5 on launch day will find one.”
The launch of the highly anticipated console will of course be in full pandemic. There is a huge demand for all kinds of digital entertainment because of the lockdowns. But at the same time supply chains are being hindered by the mitigation measures. Physical retail stores are also mandatory in many countries currently closed. In combination with possibly a smaller than anticipated stock, that makes for a serious bottleneck.
“Discontinued”
In the US, stocks are currently almost exhausted. Fans scour the internet for rare reports of restocks. Most major retailers will not announce a general stock replenishment until Black Friday bargain day, which isn’t until November 27.
There are also stock problems in our country. The console is sold out in presale bol.com in gamemania.be “Discontinued”. Coolblue, another popular e-commerce site, takes a more original approach: “PlayStation 5 is on a lot more wish lists than we have in stock. That is why you can simply put your shoe with us in the old fashioned way. Sinterklaas chooses the happy children who can order a PlayStation 5 ”, it says on the product page. Gamers therefore have to participate in some sort of draw if they want to have a chance to get a console in the short term.
Jim Ryan, meanwhile, has promised that his company will “work as hard as possible” to resolve supply issues by the holidays. For those who have not yet managed to get hold of a console, do not worry: however tempting it may be to buy the game consoles at the moment they are launched, financially that is not the best move. Once the bottleneck is unclogged, the price will likely drop significantly.
If we continue on the price trend of the PS4, the PS5 could become about 35 percent cheaper in the first nine months after launch. Those who can hold out until May may only pay 325 euros, instead of 499 euros now.
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