Sony cuts PS5 forecast estimates by a whopping 4 million

UPDATE: Sony has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz this report is not true.

“While we do not release details related to manufacturing, the information provided by Bloomberg is false,” the statement reads. “We have not changed the production number for PlayStation 5 since the start of mass production.”

The original story remains below.

Bloomberg reports that tech giant Sony is apparently experiencing difficulties with the production of their next-gen console, the PlayStation 5. According to that, Sony has slashed its PS5 forecast for the fiscal year by 4 million down to 11 million units.

These kinds of things aren’t terribly uncommon in the hardware business. Reasons for the forecast readjustments are troubles with the APU yield. The APU is the heart of the PS5 that contains the CPU and GPU of the system on one silicon die.

Not only are next-gen consoles exploding from the seams with new technology but it’s packed in a very small chip with the newest and smallest production techniques. Not only that, but Microsoft’s Xbox Series consoles are also slated to launch around the same time as the PS5. This means, that both demand and workload in the chip factories – which are not operated by either Sony or Microsoft – are very high.

But seeing how Sony isn’t going to be able to deliver the original volume of PS5 consoles, naturally, fears of gamers are creeping up that there could be a shortage of consoles during the launch and shortly after.

There’s no need for fearmongering and production will likely pick up sooner than later, but you might want to rethink when to jump into next-gen. Bloomberg analysts also suggest that despite all this, the PS5 could be aggressively priced as low as $400 for the digital edition and $450 for the standard version. We hope to learn more tomorrow during Sony’s PS5 event where we expect Sony to reveal the official price.

According to industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, Sony is heavily investing in meeting the expected demand of the PS5 by booking 60 flights to the US to deliver the console. A massive move, since hardware usually gets transported across the globe via shipping. It’s a good sign though that Sony is doing their utmost to ensure that everyone who wants to get a PS5 has a chance to get one.