PlayStation 5 buyers are set to be further disappointed as shortages are set to continue into next year, according to Sony.
The entertainment company has sold over 4.5 million of the highly sought-after consoles since its release in November, however chip shortages have meant that there has been large-scale disruption to supply chains.
“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,” Sony’s chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki told Bloomberg.
Totoki said Sony was currently considering various solutions to resolve its supply issues including sourcing secondary supplies or potentially altering hardware.
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“As I said earlier, we’re aiming for more sales volume than the PS4 (during its second year). But can we drastically increase the supply? No, that’s not likely,” he said.
Despite the global shortages of semiconductors, Sony reported that it had sold 7.8 million PS5s since it was released, beating its predecessor by 200,000 units in the same period.
However, the continued drip-feeding of stock to retailers across the UK has inadvertently fuelled the rise of scalper groups and scammers, exacerbating shopper’s inability to get their hands on a PS5.
A petition to stop scalping practices in the UK has gained 13,000 signatures, surpassing the 10,000 threshold for it to be considered by the government.
Earlier this month, Douglas Chapman MP brought forward a private member’s bill to criminalise scalping in the UK.
Speaking to Sky News, Chapman referred to the practice which is still completely legal in the UK, as a “total scam” and “profiteering”, but admitted it was unlikely his bill would become law.