A new report from Nikkei Asian Review has some interesting details about PlayStation 5. Site sources claim that Sony is significantly increasing its shipping projection for the next-gen console. This comes after an April report that the PS5 launch supply may be lower than PS4, but now apparently that will not be the case.
The company has increased its production orders from 6 million units to 9 million units, although the time period for its production was not mentioned in the report. These units will be assembled at Sony’s new factory in Japan, where robots outnumber humans. Separately, Bloomberg reported that Sony is aiming to produce 10 million PS5 consoles by the end of 2020. That doesn’t necessarily mean that 10 million will hit stores by the end of the year.
“The electronics giant has informed assembly partners and suppliers that it is dramatically increasing orders for its next-generation console, although logistics can still be challenging to deliver all of those machines in time for the holiday shopping season, the people said, asking to remain anonymous, “Bloomberg reported.
Nikkei sources mentioned that order numbers could change in either direction based on market demand, so the 9-10 million figure is unlikely to hold.
None of the reports had details on the breakdown of production orders for the PS5 by SKU. In addition to the standard PS5, Sony is producing a diskless PS5 known as the PS5 Digital Edition. In addition to these two consoles, Sony will continue to manufacture the PS4 and PS4 Pro.
Industry analyst Daniel Ahmad noted on Twitter: “Producing 10 million by the end of the calendar year is surely something if this report is true. It shows that they expect strong demand both at launch and until 2021.” He added that Sony shipped just 4.5 million PS4 units in late 2013, and that it wasn’t until June 2014 (after its launch in November 2013) that 10 million consoles were shipped to retail.
Production units of 10 million do not mean they will end up in the hands of retailers before the end of the year.
That said, it took Sony until June 2014 to ship 10 million units at retail.
So if true, this shows that Sony expects the demand for PS5 to far exceed PS4.
– Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) July 15, 2020
Karn Chauhan, a senior analyst at Counterpoint, told Nikkei Asian Review that it makes sense for Sony to seek to increase its production portfolio for the PS5 due to the pandemic and how it has caused a rise in gaming. “During the pandemic, the gaming industry witnessed a record number of online player additions as more consumers consider gaming as home entertainment,” said Chauhan.
The same Nikkei Asian Review report said Facebook is looking to increase production of Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets to 2 million units.
Recently, a pre-order page for the PS5 launched on Amazon, prompting some people to speculate that Sony may announce a release date and price soon. So far, that hasn’t happened, but it is confirmed that the console will launch this holiday season.
