Sony secures millions of chips in effort to end PlayStation 5 shortage

Sony secures millions of chips in effort to end PlayStation 5 shortage
(Image credit: sony)

Earlier this week, Intel said that ongoing chip shortages could last until 2023, prompting rumours that PS5 stock could be hard to come by for the next two years. 

Well, speculation be damned because, in a conference call yesterday, chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki claimed that Sony has purchased enough chipsets to hit its target for PS5 sales this financial year (via gamingintel).

“The semiconductor scarcity has an effect on different areas, and we have taken various measures”, he said. “For PS5... we have secured the number of chips needed. As far as semiconductor supply is concerned, we do not worry“.

Sony plans to shift 14.8 million PlayStation 5 consoles by 31st March 2022. Taking into account that the company shipped 2.3 million in the first quarter of 2021, it seems that Sony has splashed out on 12.5 million semiconductor chips.

PS5 stock might not become plentiful overnight, but PS5 shortages should ease in the run up to Christmas. With any luck, fans will be able to buy one without having to get out of bed at 3am to hit 'refresh' on the latest PS5 drop.

Sony recently announced that the PlayStation 5 is the company’s fastest-selling console. The next-gen machine has already reached its first major milestone with over ten million units sold since its launch in November 2020.

Last month the company hinted that it was so concerned about chip shortages that it had considered changing the design of the PS5. That plan would seem to be on the back burner now, but Sony does appear to have tweaked the design of the PS5 Digital Edition – a new lighter version was recently spotted in Japan.

As for the chip crisis, it's far from over. Earlier this year, Foxconn, the electronics manufacturing giant best known for making Apple products, tipped the crisis to last until mid-2022.

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Tom is a journalist, copywriter and content designer based in the UK. He has written articles for T3, ShortList, The Sun, The Mail on Sunday, The Daily Telegraph, Elle Deco, The Sunday Times, Men's Health, Mr Porter, Oracle and many more (including What Hi-Fi?). His specialities include mobile technology, electric vehicles and video streaming.