In April, the gaming community found out that the PlayStation 5 was facing a bit of trouble. Reports indicated that the next-gen console would have a limited supply for its holiday release, meaning that there might not be enough to go around. A supply shortage in such a crucial window for sales could potentially spell trouble for Sony and result in frustration for its consumers.

The good news is that Sony apparently wants to correct the situation. A recent report indicates that the company is trying to double its original production goal, producing twice as many units by March 2021. It's an ambitious goal but encouraging, showing that Sony is willing to push its limits in the hopes of ensuring the consoles success. However, players would be wise to still tread carefully. There's no guarantee that Sony can meet that goal just yet. If there is still a shortage by the holiday season, players are going to struggle to get their hands on the console.

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Changes in Production

Sony must be taking the potential shortage very seriously, because it's asking a lot of itself in an attempt to prevent a holiday shortage. Originally, Sony was planning to make five or six million units of the console by March, but now the intention is apparently to produce ten million units in the same time frame. Such a serious step up suggests that Sony is confident in the console and determined to make the PS5 a success, willing to pour resources into production and sell as many as possible at the outset.

Revving up production so much might suggest that Sony has found a way to make the PS5's production more affordable. The greatly improved components are supposed to be a core reason that the console is expected to be much more expensive than its predecessor, with Sony needing to cover the costs. There's the also chance that Sony hopes to make up the cost in volume. Either way, the sudden increase is bold and maybe a little risky, and hopefully, the sudden production rush won't have an impact on the console's quality.

Price and Pre-order Issues

ps5 price

Sony has to understand the demand for the PS5 in order to determine how much product it needs on hand, but it's hard to say exactly how large the demand is for a couple of reasons. The console's price is probably the most important one. The gaming community knows all kinds of things about the PS5, from its appearance to its professed performance improvements, but Sony fans still don't know exactly how much they have to pay for the new console.

Speculation abounds on the PS5's price, with guesses ranging from a respectable $499 to a much more drastic $700 drifting around the Internet for months. Even if fans like the looks of the PS5 and the new games that they can enjoy through the console, they can't yet say for sure if they can afford it. The increase in supply does not necessarily mean that the price will be on the lower end of estimates either. Even if production is getting cheaper, Sony could keep the price high for better profits, although this is admittedly unlikely as most consoles sell at a front-end loss.

That mystery creates yet another dilemma. Production may be increasing, but that goal is through March, not for the holiday release. The obvious solution to dodging the shortage for a player is to pre-order the console. Unfortunately, pre-orders are not possible yet without a price reveal. So long as the price remains a mystery, players have no chance of pre-ordering the console, or even deciding for sure if the PS5 is within their means.

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A Lasting Wishlist Item

Godfall with DualSense

Getting a PS5 at launch on its unspecified holiday 2020 release date might be troublesome. PS5 production reportedly started a few weeks ago, and while it's good to know that work is underway, it means that Sony doesn't exactly have a head start on work to reach its lofty goal for March. Even with redoubled efforts, i might struggle to have a large number of PS5s available when the holiday season arrives. The news of the increase only came more than a month after Sony began production, meaning the company might be changing strategies after it already started work. Aspiring players might need some luck to get a PS5 at release, or they could be stuck waiting until 2021.

To be clear, Sony says that there will be enough PS5s to meet demand at release, though the demand is ostensibly high. Also, it's hard to imagine that Sony could end up with anything but more consoles available at launch if it's increasing production. There's a distinct possibility that Sony's strategy for launch is quality over quantity. If they can create sufficient demand for the system at launch by impressing players with its capabilities, Sony could get players to keep the PS5 on their wishlists and later meet that demand with a large wave of additional units in early 2021. The key to managing a shortage is convincing players to be patient, and that the product is worth the wait.

Some Cause for Optimism

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Before the Summer of Gaming event, there were concerns that the PS5 would be short on launch titles, since studios around the world had to deal with the pandemic while trying to keep their projects on schedule. That event showed that some promising games were still on the way for the PS5 launch, building interest and renewing faith for the console. Sony proved it had a few tricks up its sleeve and that the PS5 was worth people's attention and patience.

There's also the fact that Sony has the chance to gain the upper hand on its top competitor for holiday 2020, Microsoft, while benefiting players. Sony can undercut Microsoft's moment by revealing the price of the PS5 and opening pre-orders in the near future. Microsoft explicitly says that its July 23rd event will focus on games, rather than discuss the Xbox Series X itself. While the new Xbox has plenty of exciting anticipated titles for the event, Sony taking the next step with the PS5 at the same time could really take the wind out of its rival's sails. Ultimately, players would benefit alongside Sony, getting their chance to pre-order the console sooner rather than later.

As with so much of the industry, really all players can do for now is wait and hope. Sony is apparently going full steam ahead on the PS5, which will ideally cut down on the demand concerns. There's still a distinct chance that not everyone will be able to get the console on release, but if all goes well, the wait beyond that won't be too long.

The PlayStation 5 will release in holiday 2020.

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