The global hardware shortage is not a surprise anymore as the situation has been ongoing since a couple years already. It was never easy to get a PlayStation 5 so far, and Sony is fully aware it. In Sony’s latest financial presentation, the company acknowledged those issues as spotted by Eurogamer.

In the presentation, Sony compared the sales of PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 over time. PlayStation 5 seems to surpass PlayStation 4 in the first year, but then the shortages hit hard. After the first year, PlayStation 4 sales numbers went up and this is also probably caused by Sony increasing the production of PlayStation 4 due to shortages that affected the PlayStation 5.

Expectations of Sony are around equalizing the numbers again in 2023. This means that they are not expecting to see PlayStation 5 sales going higher than PlayStation 4 sales. This prediction is not a surprise though, as Intel’s CEO seems to have a similar prediction that expects a relief for chip shortage around 2024. Main reasons for this shortage are mentioned as COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion against Ukraine.