To meet the surge in demand, Sony Interactive Entertainment is boosting PlayStation 5 production output, according to a report by Bloomberg. The decision comes after seeing the prolonged effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic boosting the demand for gaming.
According to a source familiar with Sony’s plans, the company will double PlayStation 5 production to about 10 million units this year. Back in April, Bloomberg reported that Sony was limiting the initial PS5 production to about 5 to 6 million units in the fiscal year ending March 2021. The source also mentioned that Sony has already informed assembly partners and suppliers about the increase in orders. Production of the new DualSense controller has also increased to match the new output plan.
That said, Sony may see a challenge in delivering all the hardware on time for this holiday season due to shipping constraints. Since most of Sony’s consoles are made in China, we may see a delay in the oversea shipments for its production as well. Earlier this year, Nintendo went through similar trouble with shortage of the Switch console.
Additionally, Nikkei reported that Sony raised PlayStation 5 production orders to around 9 million units, due to the demand for home entertainment during the pandemic. The report also noted that Sony originally had plans for roughly 6 million units in spring.
Sony began mass production for the PS5 console in June and currently expects to assemble 5 million units by the end of December, and another 5 million from October to December.
The PlayStation 5 will launch this holiday season.
