Statements made by Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki during an earnings call this week suggests that semiconductor shortages are no longer the reason for the lack of PS5 consoles available.
Totoki said Sony has “secured a number of chips that’s necessary to achieve” the 14.8 million production target by March.
“Regarding the supply of the semiconductors, we’re not concerned,” he said.
The shortage is, he explained, driven by the pent up demand surpassing the current production rate, which is roughly 45,000 units a day.
In February, Sony Interactive Entertainment President Jim Ryan spoke of supply chain improvements that would ensure “by the time we get to the second half of 2021, you’re going to be seeing really decent production numbers indeed.”
This hasn’t come to pass, with production rising by only 4 per cent since the first seven months the machine was in the market.
By May, Totoki admitted, “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.”
