Released in 2020, the PlayStation 5 is now Sony's fastest-selling console and the fastest-selling console in US history. However, even though reviews of the console's capabilities are largely positive, Sony is facing one big problem that prevents the console from being declared an outright success. That is, a lot of expectant fans have still not been able to get their hands on a console; these fans aired their frustrations on Twitter after the official PlayStation account tweeted an innocent inquiry into what their followers were playing.
Twitter users were quick to respond that they were playing nothing, and they especially were not playing a PlayStation 5 because they could not get their hands on one. Those who tweeted at PlayStation blamed the lack of available consoles on a variety of factors, such as the ongoing chip shortage and scalpers. While there are indeed a multitude of factors influencing the PS5 shortage, the trending hashtag, #NotAPS5, clearly displays a rise in frustrations over the lack of available consoles nearly a year after release.
Why PlayStation Supply Isn't Meeting Demand
The overall implication of a trending hashtag about how people aren't playing with Sony's latest console is not great news for the gaming giant. The responses to PlayStation's tweet show how fans are somewhat disillusioned with the company following data breaches, the current console shortage, and a growing mistrust around capitalistic technology companies more broadly.
While hardware or labor shortages are by no means new phenomena, but the current socio-economic climate paired with the prevalence of online platforms like Twitter for airing grievances means this shortage quickly became a news story, and so reflected on Sony's brand management. While scalpers have added to the difficulty Sony faces, the real issue is a labor and hardware shortage that isn't only affecting Sony.
The Xbox Series X/S has also had to contend with the chip shortage, and the implications of the shortage are far-reaching; manufacturers of cars, laptops, video cards, and other electronic products have all been affected too.
What Caused the Chip Shortage?
With so many industries affected, this chip shortage is sure to have big implications across the digital technology field. An important point to note is this is a global crisis, totally unexpected and therefore impossible to plan for. As mentioned, the shortage is largely due to a lack of labor and hardware, but the root cause comes down to three factors: the COVID-19 pandemic, china and US political relations, and climate change. In the simplest of terms, US restrictions made in 2020 on China's biggest microchip manufacturer resulted in a bigger burden being placed on other manufacturers, meanwhile Taiwan was hit by one of its worst droughts in recent history, causing problems sourcing certain materials.
While the drought in Taiwan and US restrictions on Chinese manufacturers would be enough to cause problems in themselves, the pandemic has multiplied the disruption tenfold. The labor shortage resulting from the pandemic (both from lockdown measures and the virus itself) makes every step of acquiring resources, assembling the product, and then shipping it a lot slower, while the influx of people suddenly stuck at home increased the demand for digital entertainment products, especially multipurpose devices like the PS5.
What Brands (and Fans) Can Do
While the majority of the world may be wishing the pandemic away, it is unfortunately going to continue to factor into console production. Twitter's #NotAPS5 is only one of many expressions of frustrations at shortages in digital technology that threaten to become more frequent due to climate change. However, it is apparent that Sony needs to address this issue with more transparency, especially since it is specifically being associated with the shortage. While the exclusivity of available consoles may help sales in the short term, Sony will need to focus more on PR to win gamers back.
All of these factors are largely out of the hands of gamers, and while understanding the causes of the lack of PlayStation 5 consoles at launch may help ease the sting somewhat, it doesn't fix the problem. With a slew of misinformation and contradicting news circulating about the pandemic and when it may end, the best anyone can do right now is hold tight and revisit some PlayStation 4 classics in the meantime.
PlayStation 5 is available now.