Sony is reportedly cutting PS5 production, potentially worsening availability

[midian182]

What just happened? Think getting hold of a PlayStation 5 is difficult right now? It's probably going to get even worse. Sony has reportedly slashed its previous production forecast by around one million consoles. As with so many other industries, the problem is being blamed on worsening component shortages and logistics issues.

The depressing news comes from a Bloomberg report that cites people familiar with Sony's operations. It notes that the Japanese gaming giant had previously aimed to produce more than 16 million assembled PS5 units by the end of its fiscal year in March, but that number has now been cut to 15 million. The reduction will make Sony's target of hitting 14.8 million PS5 sales by March difficult, the people said.

The chip shortage, as we all know, continues to disrupt the tech industry. Its most recent impact was on the Steam Deck, which has been delayed by two months. It has also hit automakers, graphics cards, the PC market in general, and even the iPhone 13—Apple has reportedly redirected components headed for its iPads to the latest handsets to meet demand.

In addition to the component shortages, logistical issues are also giving Sony a headache. Bloomberg notes that uneven vaccine rollouts across developing nations where Sony's suppliers are based are causing supply problems.

Sony's Chief Financial Officer, Hiroki Totoki, warned investors last month that logistics issues and parts shortages have grown more severe for the company, adding that PS5 sales in the quarter ending September were slightly weaker than expected.

A last resort?

With the holiday season almost upon us, this is unwelcome news for those hoping to secure a PlayStation 5 in time for Christmas, leaving the depressing option of paying way over MSRP for one on eBay.

It's not just those hoping to buy a PlayStation 5 who are set for a disappointing time. Graphics cards are continuing to get more expensive and scarce, with AMD's Radeon RX 6000 series approaching its highest-ever average price. The situation has become so bad that criminals recently hijacked a truck carrying thousands of dollars worth of EVGA RTX 3000 cards.

The question on most people's lips right now is when will the chip crisis end? That all depends on whom you ask. The more optimistic view, shared by Xbox boss Phil Spencer, AMD's Lisa Su, and analyst firm IDC, is that balance and supply will even out in the second half of next year.

A more pessimistic, and many would say realistic, opinion, as believed by Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, auto industry analysts, and electronics contract manufacturer Flex, is that we'll still be in this situation in 2023. Nvidia, meanwhile, is somewhere in the middle, predicting that graphics card supply issues will last "the vast majority" of 2022.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/92185-sony-reportedly-cutting-ps5-production-potentially-worsening-availability.html

 

[Yenega]

Maybe they should have skipped the Digital Only one just like MS maybe should have skipped Series S to focus on the true models.

I will wait for PS5 Slim or Pro before I buy one, maybe, if there's games worth buying it for by then

 

[Theinsanegamer]

This is somewhat good news in a way, with a limited number of new cosnoles games will continue to target older platforms for the forseeable future, extending their lifespans. Good news for those of us stuck on polaris cards.

Reading between the lines, the ever worsening transportation networks are making further production pointless. Doesnt matter how much you build if you cant move it. I have to wonder if this will eventually cause another gaming crash as hardware becomes increasingly difficult to find and justify purchasing, this logistics nightmare is only going to get worse. The most peccimistic said this would last until 2022 in 202, and now they're sayign 2023. I'd say even longer, maybe 2025? The issue is the logistics are not getting better, the situation is deteriorating, and absent a total collapse of demand there is no incentive for the dockyards or trucking companies to change anything.

Corona is being used as a cover story, the roots of this stretch back to the 70s, the infastructure maintaining modernized countries has been on a knifes edge for decades, its been called out for decades, and nobody wants to fix it. Corona was the straw that broek the camels back, and I dont want to imagine how much worse this will get.

 

[Achaios]

If you are trying to figure out whether Lisa Su is right on with respect to her prediction that the Chip Shortage will come to an end in Summer 2022, think for a moment that according to Lisa Su's statements from last year, the Chip Shortage was supposed to have ended by the summer of 2021.

 

[RudyBob]

Without keyboard and mouse I am lost. My daughter had a PS2 and I couldn't do squat on it. These gizmos would be great if all games supported keyboard and mouse. I'm not stuck on a PC cause I am a snob. I am stuck on PC cause I can't do the controller

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Without keyboard and mouse I am lost. My daughter had a PS2 and I couldn't do squat on it. These gizmos would be great if all games supported keyboard and mouse. I'm not stuck on a PC cause I am a snob. I am stuck on PC cause I can't do the controller

If you cant figure out how to use a controller you have bigger issues my man. They are not hard to figure out.Using joystick to move and button to shoot is gaming 101, literally going back to the first video games like spacewar and space invaders.

 

[Kosmoz]

The situation has become so bad that criminals recently hijacked a truck carrying thousands of dollars worth of EVGA RTX 3000 cards.

That's some Fast and Furious **** right there, only in real life, not a movie.

 

[Sausagemeat]

Without keyboard and mouse I am lost. My daughter had a PS2 and I couldn't do squat on it. These gizmos would be great if all games supported keyboard and mouse. I'm not stuck on a PC cause I am a snob. I am stuck on PC cause I can't do the controller

Playing with a controller is like having d1cks on the end of your wrists instead of hands.

 

[VitalyT]

Playing with a controller is like having d1cks on the end of your wrists instead of hands.

That must feel natural for those who got dicks for hands.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

That must feel natural for those who got dicks for hands.

Do gloves count as condoms for them?

 

[Aceseven]

No big deal, their main titles will hit PC in due time, I can wait.

 

[dangh]

Without keyboard and mouse I am lost. My daughter had a PS2 and I couldn't do squat on it. These gizmos would be great if all games supported keyboard and mouse. I'm not stuck on a PC cause I am a snob. I am stuck on PC cause I can't do the controller

keyboard is the worst input device you can probably have for playing games. I've got myself Azeron just because a typing machine is not meant to be a gaming input - unless you play some slow-pacing turn based games.
Controllers can be ok for games, which are made for them. Super mario bros on keyboard? Wipeout on a keyboard? any racing game on a keyboard? makes no sense.

Already got 3 ps5's, 2 of them on release a year ago. Simple preorder in Gamestop was enough. While I'm playing mostly on PC I am really impressed by ps5 games (and ps4 games in BC). Ghost of tsushima is a beauty I surely get and play again on PC nearly only to do photomode on 4k wide screen monitor.

 

[Irata]

If you cant figure out how to use a controller you have bigger issues my man. They are not hard to figure out.Using joystick to move and button to shoot is gaming 101, literally going back to the first video games like spacewar and space invaders.

It really depends on the game - if you‘ve played fps using mouse + keyboard for almost 30 years, switching to controllers for this type of game isn‘t easy. Tbh, I never liked them and they are not the same as an actual Joystick.

Other games - not an issue.

 

[envirovore]

If you cant figure out how to use a controller you have bigger issues my man. They are not hard to figure out.Using joystick to move and button to shoot is gaming 101, literally going back to the first video games like spacewar and space invaders.

Controllers suck for first/third person shooters where accuracy and quickness matter
Great for driving games though.

 

[VaRmeNsI]

A crisis artificially created by governments restricting supply with stupid lockdowns.

 

[3volv3d]

Without keyboard and mouse I am lost. My daughter had a PS2 and I couldn't do squat on it. These gizmos would be great if all games supported keyboard and mouse. I'm not stuck on a PC cause I am a snob. I am stuck on PC cause I can't do the controller

I don't get why this article matters to you then, but GTA was built for the PS controller. I have GTA on ps3 and 4 and PC and I hate driving with keyboard n mouse. Its so gash.

Controllers suck for first/third person shooters where accuracy and quickness matter
Great for driving games though.

I disagree. First person shooters sure, but uncharted and tomb raider are all 3rd person platformer shooter type and banging with a controller.

But the article is about shortages. That they aimed to do 15 million now instead of 16 by march. Cause people are so desperate hitting the 14.8 million target by march is going to be cake. They don't need actual consumers to help hit targets cause scalpers will buy the lot up. Its win win innit

 

[Sausagemeat]

Super mario bros on keyboard? Wipeout on a keyboard? any racing game on a keyboard? makes no sense.

Actually a lot of Mario speed runners - the ones who play custom modded levels that are impossible to the average gamer, they often use custom made, 3D printed keyboards which have like 5 keys on them. If not then a full mechanical keyboard. Or a lot use the old school buttons and stick but with 4 mechanical keys instead of a stick

I find it’s preference, I massively prefer a keyboard and mouse and I find a controller is just in accurate and clunky. But I think it’s like the difference between being right or left handed, it’s what you’re used to.

 

[Jroc187]

Maybe they should have skipped the Digital Only one just like MS maybe should have skipped Series S to focus on the true models.

I will wait for PS5 Slim or Pro before I buy one, maybe, if there's games worth buying it for by then

That's right you show them buy not getting in line with the millions that don't have a PS5 but want one.

 

[Lounds]

This announcement is for their shareholders. It's to protect Sony's share price if they don't hit their targets.

 

[gamerk2]

A crisis artificially created by governments restricting supply with stupid lockdowns.

No, a crisis artificially created by a few stupid countries who let COVID-19 run wild, causing more long-term economic damage than a short lockdown would have. The economic data shows a clear trend: The countries that locked down early recovered sooner, the ones the locked down later are suffering higher proportional economic losses.

The idea that "if we don't lock down we'll suffer no economic loss" is, quite frankly, stupid.

 

[gamerk2]

Corona is being used as a cover story, the roots of this stretch back to the 70s, the infastructure maintaining modernized countries has been on a knifes edge for decades, its been called out for decades, and nobody wants to fix it. Corona was the straw that broek the camels back, and I dont want to imagine how much worse this will get.

You're not entirely wrong here. What happened is COVID-19 caused a wave of early retirements that, frankly, the labor market can't fully absorb and companies didn't plan for. Follow that up with a two-year collapse in demand (and corresponding collapse in supply), and you had the recipe for post-lockdown shortages.

Also need to consider that workers who transport goods are almost universally overworked, underpaid, and getting old. No one is going into these industries, and as workers are leaving no one is replacing them. Again, COVID-19 broke the camel's back here. This does highlight, however, why the industry wanted self-driving transportation as badly as they did; they knew this coming, they just didn't expect things to break this soon.

Next, pretty much all companies that stockpiled goods went to Just-In-Time ordering decades ago, and simply weren't prepared for long-term shortages and how to mitigate them. Where I work we used to have a large stockpile of replacement parts so we could get replacements when we needed immediate replacements. A few years back our corporate overlords made us dump everything, since everything "took up space that could be better utilized". Guess which parts we can't get now?

And finally, it doesn't help that things like CPUs don't get re-used; you honestly think the CPU in your last-gen iPhone is getting harvested when you upgrade? And frankly, people needing their new shiny status symbol every year is a very, very large part of the problem.

Supply issues will continue though '22, possibly through '23. The transportation and logistical issues will take quite a bit longer to work out.

 

[VaRmeNsI]

No, a crisis artificially created by a few stupid countries who let COVID-19 run wild, causing more long-term economic damage than a short lockdown would have. The economic data shows a clear trend: The countries that locked down early recovered sooner, the ones the locked down later are suffering higher proportional economic losses.

The idea that "if we don't lock down we'll suffer no economic loss" is, quite frankly, stupid.

Covid isn't going anywhere and lockdowns only delay the inevitable.

 

[Gezzer]

Without keyboard and mouse I am lost. My daughter had a PS2 and I couldn't do squat on it. These gizmos would be great if all games supported keyboard and mouse. I'm not stuck on a PC cause I am a snob. I am stuck on PC cause I can't do the controller

I'm in the same boat. I just had my 60th BD in April and my hands just can't use a controller for more than a half hour before they turn into painful claws. Yes it's health related, but IMHO console controllers aren't really designed to be ergonomic as well. They try to fit as many possible inputs into a relatively small space as they can and suffer for it. M&K don't require as fine a motor skills because they're more spread out and also have the ability to be customized as needed.

Which brings me to another controller pet peeve of mine. Why does virtually every game using a controller have the toggle for walk/run on the same joystick as direction? With M&K the toggle is a separate key as it should be IMHO. With controllers combining the two makes toggling such a PITA. Hell with my hand mobility/pain issues clicking those joystick buttons are a PITA period. Console controllers are for the young and limber, and if you're not, well sucks to be you I guess.

That's why I'm not getting a PS5 until the next gen VR headset is released, hopefully having split controllers will make the difference I need. Until then it's ride PC till I die...

 

[gamerk2]

Covid isn't going anywhere and lockdowns only delay the inevitable.

Two false arguments here:

1: We can be more or less rid of COVID in two months if everyone takes the hour of their free time and gets vaccinated. At that point COVID transmission rates should drop to levels where the public has enough confidence they won't be at risk of becoming infected. It will still hang around, but rates of serious cases/death should be in the hundreds per month, if not lower, rather than a thousand plus per day.

2: Economic data has shown, somewhat consistently, that early lockdowns and reducing the overall rate of COVID transmission led the economy to a more rapid recovery. Further proof of this can be seen even in today's job report: You have a glut of a million or so workers who report they are choosing not to work specifically due to worries over contracting COVID. The fear of COVID is keeping people at home, whether or not any mandated lockdowns are in place, and until you address that fear nothing is going to change. Your fallacy here is that if there are no lockdowns everything will remain normal, which is blatantly false.

Nevermind that between COVID related early retirements/death there's already about 1 million workers who will NEVER be returning to the labor force, which is obviously going to have an economic impact.

 

[bviktor]

No, a crisis artificially created by a few stupid countries who let COVID-19 run wild, causing more long-term economic damage than a short lockdown would have. The economic data shows a clear trend: The countries that locked down early recovered sooner, the ones the locked down later are suffering higher proportional economic losses.

The idea that "if we don't lock down we'll suffer no economic loss" is, quite frankly, stupid.

Oh yes, some more conspiracy theories. If anything, COVID was good for those.