Sony is reportedly projecting to ship around 30 million PlayStation 5 consoles within the next year. This shows that Sony may be optimistic that its supply issues may drastically improve in the 2023 Fiscal Year.
As the world has adjusted to working through the COVID-19 pandemic, industries that were severely affected by the shutdown and either increases or decreases in demands have begun to stabilize. This stability has started to see companies finally catching up to demands for products that have been difficult to find throughout 2021. Nearly 2 years after launch, the PlayStation 5 is still hard to come by in stores, and if a PS5 manages to get on a shelf at a retailer, it's treated as a triumphant event. If reports are correct, there could be more regular sightings of PS5s on shelves moving forward.
Tom Henderson, a prominent gaming industry insider, published a report on his website, Insider Gaming, that says Sony is aiming to ship 30 Million PS5 consoles between now and March 2024. Out of the projected 30 million, Insider Games says Sony believes it would sell 18 million units during that same time. Reports recently released say that Sony's shipment of PS5s has dramatically increased by nearly 400% since this same time last year.
Sony seems confident that the issues that have plagued the availability of PS5 are nearing an end. While it hasn't been officially announced yet, Sony is expected to begin selling a detachable disc drive for the PS5, but that will not go into production until the middle of next year. Until then, Sony will be producing the disc-PS5 and the Digital PS5, then it is expected that Sony could phase out the disc-PS5s and only sell the Digital PS5 and the detachable disc drive as an add-on.
Though it was only released 2 years ago, Sony has already updated the PS5 model that was spotted recently in Australia. The Insider Gaming report also noted that 12 million of the 30 million units shipped would be "old PS5s." The "new" PS5 will not look different and is expected to only be lighter than the first iteration. With the mix of the two models of PS5s, potential buyers looking to get the freshest models of PS5 will have to pay attention to SKU numbers when they make their purchase.
The PlayStation 5 continues to sell well when it can be found, with an estimated 21.7 units sold since the November 2020 launch. With 30 million units now expected to ship in the 2023 Fiscal Year, Sony appears confident that its supply chain issues are coming to an end and that it can get more consoles into the hands of its fans.
Source: Insider Gaming