Hardware engineering company AMD has predicted that the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S console shortages could last until the second half of this year.
AMD, who develops the CPUs and GPUs for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, revealed that console stock shortages are still going to remain low for the foreseeable future [thanks, VGC].
When speaking during a Q4 earnings call on Tuesday of this week, AMD CEO Lisa Su stated that she expects “some tightness” during the first six months of 2021 before things may begin to get better during the second half of the year.
“So certainly, when I look at the semiconductor environment in 2020 it was very strong. So, we saw a strong revenue ramp in our business as well as across some of our peers,” said Su.
“It’s fair to say that the overall demand exceeded our planning and as a result, we did have some supply constraints as we ended the year. Those were primarily, I would say, in the PC market, the low end of the PC market and in the gaming markets.“
“That being said,” added Lu, “I think we’re getting great support from our manufacturing partners. The industry does need to increase the overall capacity levels and so we do see some tightness through the first half of the year, but there is added capacity in the second half.”
I know this isn’t the kind of news that gamers still waiting to get their hands on a new-gen console may want to hear, but at least there’s some hope that stock supplies will improve at some point in 2021.
Since the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles launched in November 2020 it’s been practically impossible to get one. When stock does become available, it’s common to see console reselling companies snatch all the supply to sell on at a profit.
So while stock shortages look to continue for the foreseeable future, we should avoid temptation and refuse to fill the pockets of greedy resellers taking advantage of desperate gamers.
I was hoping to have a new console for my birthday next month and in the very likely event that I still won’t have one, I’ll be holding out until I can buy one at the regular RRP!
Have you managed to get your hands on a PS5 or Xbox Series X|S?
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Featured Image Credit: Microsoft/Sony