The semiconductor shortage issue that has led to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles’ scarcity could last well into next year and even 2023 according to Toshiba, which spells serious concerns for next-gen consoles.
“The supply of chips will remain very tight until at least September next year,” said Takeshi Kamebuchi to Bloomberg, a director in charge of semiconductors at one of the company’s units. “In some cases, we may find some customers not being fully served until 2023.”
Toshiba has also disclosed that material shortages and the higher than usual demand with shorter supply due to the pandemic is the main reason behind this crisis. Toshiba plans investments of around $545 million until 2024 to boost the production of semiconductors.
Toshiba is also considering building another factory to increase productivity. Investors on the other hand are concerned that once the pandemic is over and people are outside more often, the demand will evaporate and the company would have lost on its investments unnecessarily.
Both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles are still incredibly hard to come by, even though they launched almost a year ago in November of 2020. The cost-effective Xbox Series S consoles are relatively easier to find, they are still however much more scarce than they should be.
Xbox has also just announced a new Halo Infinite special edition of the Xbox Series X, and a Halo Infinite themed Elite Series 2 controller. Both of which were sold out as soon as the preorders went live, and were up for sale on eBay for almost double the prices.
It is yet to be seen how the story will unfold, and if the consoles shortage issue will actually last until the year 2023.
