For those in search of that elusive PlayStation 5 for the longest time--even bookmarking PS5 restock trackers to stay ahead of the line--Sony has given wonderful news that will surely brighten your day.
The painstaking adventure might soon come to an end after Sony announced that it has secured enough chips to produce more PS5 that would flood the market in the remainder of the year. In particular, as Sony chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki said, the company has sourced enough processors to hit the production target of 14.8 million PS5 consoles by the end of the fiscal year in March, a Reuters report said.
Sony Acquires 22 Million AMD Chips for PS5 Consoles
Totoki said Sony has acquired 22 million AMD chips for its PS5 console, Tom's Hardware reported. The tech website surmised that Sony was able to acquire that many chips to meet production targets because AMD prioritized console chip production over its CPUs and RDNA 2-based graphics cards, which led to Nvidia's dominance of the GPU market in 2021.
Sony has sold 10 million PS5s since the next gen console was launched in November last year, Cnet reported.
Read also: PS5, Xbox Series X Restocks: 5 Major Mistakes That Prevent You From Buying the Next Gen Consoles
Monitoring PS5 restocks has been a painful grind for gamers in search for available consoles, which have been largely out of stock due to production limitations as a result of the chip shortage. When a limited number of restocks appear in retailer stores or websites, they sell out in minutes. Adding to their misery is the proliferation of PS5 scalpers, who use bots to buy multiple units to resell at exorbitant prices.
While retails tried to address the problem concerning the use of bots, no concrete effect has been realized.
Sony PS5 Production Targets Might Not Meet Demand
But even with the added supply, Tom's Hardware noted that it might sill not even meet the surging demand for the console. The millions to be shipped towards the end of the year, the report said, would also sell out in a short period. It noted a Sony disclosure that the supply of PS5s to meet the market demand would not correct itself until after 2022 or over a year away.
Totoki himself said in the report that even with a bountiful supply of devices and components, putting PS5s into store shelves would still be difficult. He indicated, however, that the company will do whatever it takes to keep up with the market demand.
In Sony's first quarter earnings report on Wednesday, the company achieved a profit of 280.1 billion yen ($2.57 billion), a remarkable increase from the 221.7 billion yen earnings year-on-year, The figure even went beyond analyst expectations of a 207.96 billion yen ($1.89 billion) first quarter.
Totoki also confirmed how the current PS5 price point ($399 for the digital version, $499 for the standard edition) has been affecting the company's bottom line, as it sold the PS5 consoles at a loss since its November 2020 launch. But he forecasted that with the current developments concerning the availability of chips and the meeting of production targets, Sony would begin making a profit for the $499 consoles in 2022.
