One of Sony’s top priorities going forward is to ramp up production for the PlayStation 5 to meet the unprecedented demand for the console. In an investor briefing (PDF), the company said it expects to close the gap in PS4 and PS5 sales this year after the newer console lagged its older sibling in 2021. Sony blamed the lack of PS5 sales on the inability to build enough units due to ongoing supply chain shortages in its quarterly earnings report. No shortage of demand: based on the data Sony presented, it takes just 82 minutes to sell 80,000 PS5 units, while it takes nine days to sell the same number of PS4s.
The company now expects to be able to produce more units as supply chain shortages have eased a bit, but the impact of the pandemic on parts availability remains a concern. In addition, Sony is concerned that the Russian invasion of Ukraine could also affect logistics and possible parts stock. To mitigate the impact of these issues, Sony plans to source from multiple suppliers “for greater flexibility in volatile market conditions”. It also has ongoing negotiations to maintain optimal delivery routes for the console.
With those solutions, the company believes that PS5 sales can catch up with the PS4s again from next year. Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said during the briefing that, after the initial startup, the company “intends to significantly ramp up console production. [it] to production levels that [it has] never reached before.”
In addition to discussing its PS5 production goals, Sony has also revealed that it is expanding PlayStation Studios by acquiring more game studios and increasing its investment in live services, PC and mobile offerings. It commits to launch 12 live services over the next few years that don’t include Destiny, which will be from the company as part of the Bungie acquisition. And it plans to have half of its annual first party releases on PC and mobile by 2025. “By expanding into PC and mobile, and it must be said… being present in a very narrow segment of the overall gaming software market, to virtually ubiquitous,” explains Ryan.
All products recommended by Engadget have been selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.