PlayStation 5 supply shortages in UK set to continue into next year, Sony warns

PlayStation 5 consoles are notoriously hard to get hold of at the moment.

Retailers have been struggling to keep up with demand for the highly sought-after machines, with many selling out within minutes of a restock.

And it looks like those supply issues are set to continue into next year.

Sony has warned the console, which launched in November will suffer shortages “through 2022”, according to Bloomberg.

The problem is mainly down to a global shortage of semiconductors – something Sony can do nothing about.

The issue has affected tech businesses across the world, including Microsoft and Nintendo – Sony’s biggest rivals in the video games market.

However, despite the issues, the PS5 is outstripping PlayStation 4 sales at the same stage – and is on course to become the second best-selling console of all time, behind the PS2.

Sony’s financial figures revealed 7.5million PS5s have been sold, with the firm hoping to almost double that by March next year.

“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,” said Hiroki Totoki, Sony’s executive deputy president.

But there are also fears the surge in demand could start to settle down as the world begins to emerge from lockdown.

Sony reported it had seen a dip in monthly active PSN users, which fell from 114m in the last quarter of 2020 to 109m at the beginning of 2021.

Whether that downward trend continues remains to be seen.

Nintendo has also warned it might struggle to make enough Switch consoles to meet demand, something that could have serious implications for the much-rumoured Switch Pro model – if and when it’s announced.