Sony has reportedly cut its PlayStation 5 production estimate by more than one million units, according to Bloomberg. The company had estimated 16 million consoles manufactured by March, but that number has been reduced to around 15 million. A loss of one million consoles for the fiscal year. The reason? Global chip shortages and shipping delays. Bloomberg’s sources indicated that these issues stem from uneven vaccine rollouts in countries where Sony builds their chips. This production delay puts the company’s sales forecast in jeopardy. Sony had previously predicted 14.8 million PS5 consoles sold in the fiscal year ending in March, but with a maximum of 15 million consoles manufactured, well, you do the math. As most consumers know, Sony’s flagship gaming console has been difficult to purchase since it launched in late 2020. Thanks to these manufacturing delays, picking up a PS5 over the holidays may continue to be frustrating. Supply chain issues have been mucking up the gaming waterworks all week. Chip shortages caused Valve to delay their sought-after Steam Deck portable console to 2022 and battery problems forced Panic to push the launch of the retro-inspired Playdate console back to next year, with post-launch units being redesigned after the company discovered their specialized CPU was back-ordered by a full two years.
