PS5 Production Now Facing Less Friction, Logistics Remain Influenced By Ongoing Pandemic

PS5 production is now experiencing less friction, as there are much less constraints from component supplies. Logistical lead time isn’t yet at pre-pandemic level, however.

According to Hiroki Totoki, who is currently Executive Deputy President, CFO, Representative Corporate Executive Officer, and Director of the Board of Sony Group Corporation, PS5 hardware production has picked up pace since Q2 2022.

Positive considerations include the fact that, as of the second quarter, there are less supply-side restrictions on PlayStation 5 hardware manufacturing, which is, in Totoki’s opinion, a significant gain. Moving forward, Sony aims to generate as many units as it possibly can.

Totoki claims that the company has sufficient manufacturing capacity, and that the post-pandemic Shanghai lockdown situation has already been resolved. Additionally, he states that the logistical lead time is still below where it was before the onset of COVID-19. Consequently, it will take a little longer to get logistics back in order. Despite these setbacks, Totoki insists that the company is looking to produce additional PlayStation 5 units.

Major game releases from both first-party and third-party studios from the second quarter onward are expected to boost sales of the new console. As of the end of June, 2022, Sony was successfully able to roll out plans to expand and and extend production. However, Totoki warns that it is too soon to tell how much of this will positively affect PlayStation 5 supplies going forward. He states that, because the company’s plans to improve PS5 production were rolled out very recently, it’s difficult to draw any firm conclusions without gathering additional data. Though, he is hopeful that Sony is off to a good start.

The PS5 was in 2019 by Sony Interactive Entertainment as the successor to the PlayStation 4, and was released on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North America, and South Korea, with a worldwide release following a week later. It is part of the ninth generation of game consoles, along with Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Series S, which were released in the same month.