PS5 supply will reportedly be even tighter than expected in coming months

PlayStation 5 supply looks set to be even tighter than previously expected over the coming months, after Sony reportedly cut its production plans by around one million consoles.

According to Bloomberg sources, the company has reduced its PS5 production outlook for the fiscal year ending in March 2022 from more than 16 million units to around 15 million because of worsening parts and logistics issues.

PS5 has been difficult to buy ever since its November 2020 launch as Sony has struggled to produce and distribute enough units to meet demand.

Sony claimed in July that PS5 had become its fastest selling console ever after topping 10 million sales globally just under a month faster than the PS4 managed. However, it has since fallen behind the sales pace of its predecessor.

Last month, Sony said PS5 supply issues were negatively impacting hardware sales but that it remained hopeful of hitting its annual console shipment target of 14.8 million units, a feat that would see it best PS4’s performance during the same stage of that console’s lifecycle.

“At this time, there is no change to our FY21 unit sales target for PS5 hardware, but several factors are significantly impacting the supply of the product such as disruption of the global distribution supply chain and limitations on the supply of components, especially semiconductors,” Sony’s chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki said during a financial results briefing in October.

He later reiterated: “In the second year of PS4, it was 14.8 million units [shipped] and we were targeting to exceed this number and we have not changed this target.”

However, Totoki also admitted that PS5 sales in the first half of the year hadn’t met Sony’s expectations.

“Worldwide, there is a disruption in logistics, and mainly semiconductor device supply being constrained, and this is having a larger impact [than expected], and as you know, the hardware sales in the first quarter were less unit wise and so this is having an impact on us, and likewise for the second quarter,” he said.

“But I think that with our efforts and putting in place different measures, the PS platform momentum can be maintained, and especially to the users who are waiting for the PS5, we want to be able to supply as many PS5s as possible to our customers who are waiting – that is our thinking.”