Sony looks to be on its way to resolving the PlayStation 5 supply issues in Asia by 2023, that is according to a statement by Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan.
In a post on the Japanese PlayStation Blog, Ryan stated that more PlayStation 5 consoles will ship out in Asia and Japan next year. He stated that this is due to Sony finally resolving a long-running issue in their supply chain that has limited production of the consoles.
Sony launched the PlayStation 5 in November of 2022, in the middle of both a global pandemic as well as a worldwide semiconductor shortage—the latter exacerbated by the former. As such, Sony was unable to keep up with consumer demand forcing many retailers to implement pre-order systems to better handle it. (Read: PlayStation 5 pre-orders in the first 12 hours beat PlayStation 4’s first 12 weeks of sales)
The limited PlayStation 5 supply, coupled with record demand, was such that some governments even mulled criminalizing the scalping of the console and other electronics, such as graphics cards.
As for whether the issue that Sony resolved was related to the semiconductor shortage, Ryan didn’t state. He also did not state exactly when increased shipments of PlayStation 5 consoles would hit the market outside of a nebulous “2023.” Ryan also didn’t state when the rest of the world could expect more consoles.
The other question the increased supply raises is whether or not Sony will reduce the price of the console. Earlier this year, the company raised the price of the PlayStation 5 in certain countries due to economic circumstances. That said, the price increase seemingly has not hurt demand for the console, meaning that Sony could likely maintain the higher pricing.
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