Hopeful gamers are still trying to get their hands on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, even though it’s been months since the consoles released. The CEO of AMD, the company that builds the processors that power the new consoles, recently explained some of the root causes of the shortage.
Console shortages are nothing new, as anyone who was trying to get a Nintendo Wii at the height of the console’s popularity can attest, but it has been especially difficult for players to get the PS5 and Xbox Series. There are multiple reasons behind this, ranging from unprecedented demand to the impact of COVID-19, but AMD CEO Lisa Su explained in a recent report what she believes is the main cause behind the shortage.
AMD produces Ryzen 5000 processors, which are used to power both the PS5 and Xbox Series X and allow for graphical features like ray-tracing technology. High-ranking members of the company recently discussed its best-selling products and plans for the future in its profit report for the last quarter of 2020. In the report, Su said that AMD has had trouble developing the processors because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the two-year-long trade war between the United States and China. She expects that this will cause a “tightness” of supplies well into 2021.
AMD made more profits in 2020 over the last year, despite the production slowdown. The company reported making $3.24 billion during the 2020’s last quarter, a 53% uptick from the previous year. This is likely due to the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X and the company’s new Radeon RX 6800 XT computer processors, which arrived on the PC market during the holiday season.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing China-U.S. trade war are not the only factors behind the console shortage. The video game industry continues to grow rapidly each year, leading to higher demand for new consoles than ever before. With most PS5 and Xbox Series X sales taking place online, there is also the problem of scalpers using bots to buy up all the new consoles as soon as they go live. The scalpers then sit on their stock and sell the consoles at extremely marked-up prices. This keeps more consoles out of the hands of gamers and has led to PS5 and Xbox Series X software sales taking a hit.
With unprecedented demand, scalpers, and the issues highlighted by AMD, it seems that the PS5 and Xbox Series X may not be readily available until mid 2021. By then more people will hopefully have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and AMD will have had time to fix its manufacturing and delivery issues, leading to an increase of console production.
Source: Tom's Hardware