Sony Interactive Entertainment has told WIRED that PlayStation 5 software has sold 11 percent more units than its predecessor did in the first five months on the market. Additionally, PS5 users logged 81 percent more time on their consoles than the PS4 did in the same period following launch.
There’s no doubt that these numbers are thanks in part to the ongoing pandemic keeping people indoors. According to the article, game time across PlayStation platforms was 20 percent higher in March 2021 compared to the same period last year.
“What you’re seeing is the high demand that we’ve seen during the pandemic coming across all aspects of consumer electronics,” analyst Carolina Milanesi explained to WIRED. “Televisions, consoles: We were just online more than we ever have been before.”
Sony is keen to address the shortage as fast as it can. While the company has remained mum about scalpers price gouging the PS5, it hopes to have enough supply to make the practice less attractive.
“We’re working as hard as we can to ameliorate that situation,” SIE CEO Jim Ryan told WIRED. “We see production ramping up over the summer and certainly into the second half of the year, and we would hope to see some sort of return to normality in terms of the balance between supply and demand during that period.”
While this is welcome news, Sony’s Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki reportedly warned analysts recently that PS5 supply shortages are likely to extend into 2022, partly because consumer demand shows no sign of subsiding.
[Source: WIRED]
