The pandemic has caused a plethora of issues for the IT industry; one of the most detrimental problems is the global chip shortages the chip shortages have not only affected the IT industry but also the industries such as automobiles. The shortages have forced companies to cut down on products which has resulted in major delays of products.
For more than a year, the worldwide chip shortage has had a huge impact on the whole technology industry, but recent gaming hardware news has proven that things aren’t going to get any better anytime soon. Gaming companies large and small will feel the pain far into next year, and it’s not just Sony and Microsoft’s next-gen consoles that may be difficult to obtain.
Further Details
Nintendo was perhaps the first to break the news, lowering its fiscal year sales target for the Nintendo Switch by 1.5 million on November 4th “because of the effects of the global semiconductor scarcity,” the company said. In a Q&A, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said that “there has not been a big change in the situation” since the start of the fiscal year, which begins in April. According to the GM of Nintendo’s Technology Development Division, the company is “considering alternative components and revisiting our designs,” although it’s unclear whether anything it’s looking at will make it easier to find a Switch on the shelf.
On November 11th, Valve announced that the Steam Deck mobile gaming PC would be delayed two months, from a December release to a February release. Even before the delay, we had a feeling that Steam Deck supplies would be limited, as expected order availability was pushed back to early 2022 just a few weeks after the initial bookings went live. Even those who had reserved a December 2021 purchase date will now have to wait a little longer.
According to Bloomberg, Sony expects to produce fewer PS5s. According to Bloomberg, the business had previously estimated that it would be able to manufacture 16 million consoles in the current fiscal year, but now expects to make “about 15 million.” Since its release in November 2020, the PS5 has been extremely difficult to come by, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon: According to Bloomberg, Sony’s manufacturing partners believe it will be tough to fulfill the company’s goal of 22.6 million PS5 sales in the coming fiscal year.
We’re just aware of a few recent shifts; there could be other issues and delays going on behind the scenes that we’re not aware of. In September, Microsoft’s Xbox executive Phil Spencer warned of persistent shortages, predicting that the problem will last until 2022. The problem extends beyond gaming hardware manufacturers, with Intel predicting that the chip scarcity would endure until at least 2023.
Meanwhile, Apple, which is known for its supply chain mastery, suffered a $6 billion loss last quarter due to supply chain restrictions. It’s iPhone 13 which is being praised for its carrying out functions such as SMS sharing seamlessly has been delayed till February 2022. Despite this, many Apple products can still be delivered by Christmas if ordered now from the company’s website, but this isn’t the case for most gaming devices.
Summing Up
Despite the numerous delays, there is one possible bright point. The Analogue Pocket vintage handheld is “still on schedule” for a December release, despite being delayed many times due to supply chain issues. But, since even Nintendo and Sony are having problems, you might want to hold off on getting too thrilled until you get your hands on the Pocket.