Thread: Sony Warns Tight PlayStation 5 Supply to Extend Into Next Year

3liteDragon

Roving Reporter
Sony Group Corp. warned a group of analysts the PlayStation 5 will remain in short supply through 2022, suggesting the company will be constrained in its ability to boost sales targets for its latest games console. While reporting financial results in late April, the Japanese conglomerate said it had sold 7.8 million units of the console through March 31, and it is aiming to sell at least 14.8 million units in the current fiscal year. That would keep it on pace to match the trajectory of the popular PlayStation 4, which has sold in excess of 115.9 million units to date.

In a briefing after those results, Sony told analysts it is challenging to keep up with strong demand. The PS5 has been difficult to find in stock since its release in November, in part because of shortages in components such as semiconductors, and the company hasn't given an official estimate for when it expects supply to normalize.

"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," Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki said at the briefing, according to several people who attended and asked not to be named as it wasn't public.

A Sony spokesman declined to comment.

Sony said it would buy back up to 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) of its own shares after reporting profit for the March quarter that fell short of analyst estimates. It forecast that operating profit would slide about 4% in the current fiscal year, but analysts have been weighing whether the company could exceed the conservative outlook with the help of strong demand for the new console and games.

Shares have dropped about 8% since the earnings report on April 28, after rising 75% over the previous year.

Totoki told analysts that Sony needs to ramp up production as soon as possible and make sure there are consoles on store shelves. Demand will remain high regardless of the Covid-19 situation, the CFO assured an analyst wary about Sony's ability to fully capitalize on the stay-at-home entertainment surge triggered by lockdowns and emergency orders."We have sold more than 100 million units of the PlayStation 4 and considering our market share and reputation, I can't imagine demand dropping easily," he said.

Still, the company's latest earnings report suggests that stay-at-home demand is leveling off. Sony said monthly active users on PlayStation Network fell to 109 million at the end of the January-March period from 114 million a quarter earlier and sales of full games also declined in the period from a year earlier. Rival Nintendo Co. warned last week that component shortages could affect production. It's officially targeting sales of 25.5 million consoles in the year ending March 2022, down slightly from the previous year. But internally, Nintendo's management is said to be shooting for production of between 28 and 29 million consoles., Bloomberg News has reported.
 
Get out those credit/debit cards and head to Ebay. Might as well at this point. Zero meaningful improvement to supply, zero improvements to the process (letting people physically line up, or reserve).
 
Finally snagged one for my brother in law during a Walmart stock refresh a couple days ago.

It's crazy that you can't find one and it's setting record sales.
 
Ok, scalpers it is gonna be then. But there are not really much worth going PS5 for yet, is there?
 
I think @Arc is right. I scoffed in the other thread when she said it, but this kinda pushes me in that direction. I tried extremely hard the first 2 months of release, and nada.

My only issue now is finding scalper who isn't a scammer.
 
For some reason, I had a strong flashback to the 2007-2008 days of "Nintendo Wii artificial supply constraints = high sales" arguments when the entire planet was crumpling under the weight of the housing market crash. Funny how we've found ourselves in the same straits a decade later.

Oh well. Consoles that have to compete during an economic downturn tend to produce the brightest gems.
 
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For some reason, I had a strong flashback to the 2007-2008 days of "Nintendo Wii artificial supply constraints = high sales" arguments when the entire planet was crumpling under the weight of the housing market crash. Funny how we've found ourselves in the same straits a decade later.

Oh well. Consoles that have to compete during an economic downturn tend to produce the brightest gems.
Getting a Wii back then was easy compared to what we have now with the PS5, imo.

Usually involved just checking a few stores once a week, and with a bit of luck you found one in the less frequented places. I know a store that usually just sells pharmacy stuff, but they had a small console corner there as well. Could get each console on launch day there pretty easily, every time, since everybody went to the big electronics stores to get one there.

With the PS5 they never even got a shipment. Everything happens online, and gets scalped by script bots in seconds

A friend of mine who is a huge Sony fan tried to get one for months, and was online for each and every fucking time there was a small shipment announced here in Germany. Usually, he was seeing a loading screen for a few minutes, and after that a page that said everything has sold out already.

Each and every time.

Sony can go fuck themselves if they don't want my money.
 
Yes, paying 6K+ is definitely the right move instead of waiting since nothing is worth it right now.

It's not like Sony are the only ones struggling with this issue. The whole world is outside of the industry too
 
Shortages everywhere, tbf its not that hard to get a PS5 in the UK, ive had 1 digital and 6 standards (not scalping, sold them to friends at RRP) always seem to get one.
 
I tried really hard to get one for several months before giving up entirely. There are games I want to play on it, but none for me personally that justify spending 2 or 3 hundred above retail to get one. Plus, it's not like I'm in dire straits, I have literally hundreds of games to replay and a backlog in the dozens. For example, I'm trying to finish TLOU2 and then I have RE8 lined up right after. Then I've got Mass Effect Legendary Edition (which I never played originally) and Mario Golf coming.

I think that's where the issue is to me; the best argument against a PS5 is a PS4. The onus is on Sony to try and sell me a PS5 at the effective market rate of $800, which they simply have not done. Some might say that is the market's forces at work, but I disagree seeing that Sony chose and has chosen to continue to favor distribution methods that favor bots and scalpers. I still have not heard any viable reason why these shouldn't be released on store shelves for those who want them instead of doing these ridiculous 2 minute in stock releases that break all these retailers websites and get raped up by bots, but it is what it is.

I think Sony could have handled this launch more capably (they kicked it off by screwing people on the preorders, after all) and certainly more fairly to ensure systems wound up in retail channels that favored the end user instead of scalpers, but I think they are ultimately going to be hurt in doing so because as I've said before: the company that doesn't sell something to a customer who has cash in hand is asking for all kinds of potentially bad things to occur that may involve that customer going elsewhere or they may stop looking entirely. Point is, at some point all sales cool off and the day may come when Sony is trying to entice people to buy one who have either moved on in other directions or simply aren't listening anymore. In sales, you don't ever give the customer a reason not to buy, because there's always someone else out there who will. The line right now is that unless you want to pay $800 for the system, which some either won't do (me) or can't do (a fuck ton of people) then you may as well not bother. That's not a good message to be sending out.

It's still important to realize that this isn't all Sony's fault of course; my dishwasher took a shit a couple weeks ago and when I went to Lowe's to buy a specific model I'd researched they were like "LOL good luck to u." Everything has been fucked up by this, but let me also note that I was able to get a dishwasher installed within 2 weeks, whereas I've been looking for a PS5 for over half a year and now they're telling me that isn't going to get better until a year from now AND they're redesigning it AND by that time the PS5 Slim or Pro will be on the way. I think I'm best off just turning off my next gen radar, cleaning out the backlog and when I can walk into a store on my own volition and actually buy one of these things, I'll do it. I'm actually leaning towards buying the Series X if the choice is mine, because I think it'll be available sooner and there isn't a likelihood of a redesign. Time will tell!
 
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This would imply that computer hardware shortages will also extend well into next year.
nvidia gpu shortages till 2023
TSMC, Nvidia, and Intel Say That the Global Chip Shortage Will Continue till 2023: Report. ... Now, as per recent reports, major chip-makers such as TSMC, Nvidia, and Intel have said that the ongoing chip shortage will continue till 2022 and might even extend to 2023.Apr 24, 2021

Something strange going on, electricians saying material costs going up, hear lumber is going up in price, used cars are going up in price faster than sp500. Something strange is a foot.
 
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Stores should take a waiting list and fill those orders as the PS5s come in. I'm sure most people wouldn't mind a wait if they knew they were in a line and would get their order filled eventually. The having to click a website in the right random 5 second window is bullshit.
 
Scalpers aren't ever going to go away. Mow some lawns, do some chores for mom and save up $750. Deal with it 😎
There was a thread on Gaf about 2 years ago called "How do you plan on saving up for the next gen consoles?" And I was like "Ummmm I'm an adult with a job. If I want an Xbox I will just BUY the damn thing with money" 😂

If you have to drastically alter your budget over a span of months/year to buy a $500+ PlayStation then you don't need one to begin with.
 
There was a thread on Gaf about 2 years ago called "How do you plan on saving up for the next gen consoles?" And I was like "Ummmm I'm an adult with a job. If I want an Xbox I will just BUY the damn thing with money" 😂

If you have to drastically alter your budget over a span of months/year to buy a $500+ PlayStation then you don't need one to begin with.

As a big boy with a job and enough disposable income that I was able to buy a 5 for $700, I cured the sting of overpaying with the Demons Souls remake and Miles Morales. It worked lickety fuckin split 🥳
 
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I saw this coming a thousand miles away. This generation is going to be extremely slooooww.. I paid scalp prices for PS5 and RTX 3090. Time is money and if I have to wait 2yrs in order to get the latest and greatest, I wasted money imo. I'm literally paying premium for having "early access" for 2yrs and I'm OK with that.
 
Stores should take a waiting list and fill those orders as the PS5s come in. I'm sure most people wouldn't mind a wait if they knew they were in a line and would get their order filled eventually. The having to click a website in the right random 5 second window is bullshit.
5 second window? I synchronize with atomic clock and click on link on exact first second and it says sold out. It is pure unadulterated BS.

What I want to know is how do the scalpers get dozens or hundreds of different addresses as well as different IPs and different credit cards, to trick the systems?

I like what newegg is doing with heavy bundles. They should just put 2-3 ps4 games that the scalper won't be able to sell at a profit, and a no return policy, to dissuade them from buying.

In the end I'll probably end up paying scalper prices with a bundle, as those are basically the ones with least scalper demand, but at least I'll get demon souls spiderman or last of us + another controller for that price.
 
Or enjoy your backlog and do other shit until A) there are games worth buying, and B) you aren't spending 3 times what the product should cost.
Eh. Some of us were done with last-gen last November, like to play the best version of games, think there's some good exclusives already, and don't mind paying 300 or 400 over the base price.

I'm just saying, we're all adults with disposable income. Why continue to run in frustrating hamster wheels for years to come? Unless you consider having a system snatched out of your cart by a bot every time you try, an enlightening exercise worthy of your time.

Sony, Microsoft, and retailers took a scarcity problem and magnified it a thousand times, with the stupidest arbitrary rules and systems I've seen in some time. Fans shouldn't have to wait two years or more to get their hands on a console they were hyped for last November, especially as those systems pick up more and more great software.

It sucks, it shouldn't be happening, but I'm all about actually finding a way to do something, rather than be subject to the silly whims of the collective idiots running things right now. The lack of a reservation system, or a more bot-proof online marketplace alone... I'd even settle for things staying in your cart long enough for you to hit checkout.
 
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Stores should take a waiting list and fill those orders as the PS5s come in. I'm sure most people wouldn't mind a wait if they knew they were in a line and would get their order filled eventually. The having to click a website in the right random 5 second window is bullshit.
Hell, at the very least, make it so that once it's in your cart, it can't be removed from your cart by another shopper for 10 minutes. That alone would at least give humans a chance against the bots.

I've had a 3070/3080 in my amazon cart a few times now and then it's gone while I'm clicking on shipping and payment options. There's no reason for that shit.
 
Eh. Some of us were done with last-gen last November, like to play the best version of games, think there's some good exclusives already, and don't mind paying 300 or 400 over the base price.

I'm just saying, we're all adults with disposable income. Why continue to run in frustrating hamster wheels for years to come? Unless you consider having a system snatched out of your cart by a bot every time you try, an enlightening exercise worthy of your time.

Sony, Microsoft, and retailers took a scarcity problem and magnified it a thousand times, with the stupidest arbitrary rules and systems I've seen in some time. Fans shouldn't have to wait two years or more to get their hands on a console they were hyped for last November, especially as those systems pick up more and more great software.

It sucks, it shouldn't be happening, but I'm all about actually finding a way to do something, rather than be subject to the silly whims of the collective idiots running things right now. The lack of a reservation system, or a more bot-proof online marketplace alone... I'd even settle for things staying in your cart long enough for you to hit checkout.

Just because consoomers are so over last Gen doesn't mean the next Gen started or is worth the current asking price.
 
They are making a lot as they are outpacing PS4, same as GPUs and Xbox, but people are simply trying to get them as they are bored and have money to burn right now.

I don't see any reason to pay a premium as there really isnt a must have next gen game yet.
 
I think scalpers and the bots are unfortunately the new norm. They'll never go away, especially for new consoles. You're either just gonna have to get lucky and have perfect timing online or at a store or you'll have to pocket away some extra stacks for the dude on Craigslist.

Guarantee that Switch Pro or whatever it'll be called is going to be next on the impossible to find list.
 
Well this sucks. I was fortunate enough to get one at launch. Having to wait potentially over a year to grab a new console is terrible. And as others have said, getting a decent pc right now is just as hard (unless you don't mind getting ripped off.)

CoVID and globalization have supremely screwed the pooch here.

wonder if this will cause companies to slow walk next Gen exclusives.
 
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I can personally attest to the legitimacy of StockX. I broke down and bought a Series X a month ago when it came to light that this shit was going to last a long time. A man can only be so strong.
 
I guess I've just gotten super lucky...got on Best Buy's site a few minutes before an expected drop, bought that PS5 easy peasy....played Miles Morales, got bored with it, sold it to a buddy, three days later saw a Target in my area that had a Series S in stock, bought it and picked it up that day.

Who wants to rub me for luck
 
I know I could get one the same way I got my 3080, by being vigilant and using various programs, but it's just such a pain in the ass. Maybe I'll work up the motivation to give it a go...or maybe I'll see how 'cheap' I can get one on ebay...or maybe I'll just continue to wait. Fuck it.
 
This generation is a shitshow. I was even considering importing a console because I saw that on official stores in Brazil the prices are way up than what they should be due to scarcity (and they should be less expensive than what they charge here even with a hiked price) - . Then I saw the Xbox Series S costing more than US$ 400 in several U.S. websites. I mean... WTF.

There are people selling PS5 on MercadoLivre (our Ebay) for R$ 8000 to R$ 12000. And people are buying it.

I don't have disposable income for this and even if I did I wouldn't buy on principle alone.

I think three years from now i'll buy one of these machines. Until then I'll play retro stuff. Fuck this shit.

I already had a Wii at this point in that gen timeframe and I paid the exact list price of it on a store in Miami.