After a year on the market - the game console shortage continues

2021-12-08T16:59:46.825Z

One year has passed since the latest generation of game consoles reached the market, at the same time they are still rare at retailers. One big reason is the global semiconductor shortage that prevails. - There is still a crying lack of parts that are needed, says Alexander Norén, technology journalist.

In November 2020, the new generation of gaming consoles from Sony and Microsoft was launched.

Consistently improved graphics and revolutionary fast charging times were some of the technological advances that raised customer expectations to the skies.

Despite this, both Playstation and Xbox systems are still hard to find in stores.

A major reason for the meager supply is the lack of semiconductors, there are no components needed to assemble the consoles.

Semiconductors are what are found on almost every computer chip in modern society and are the part that conducts power.

However, demand remains high, which means that the few consoles that make it to the store shelves are disappearing quickly.

The price tag on the secondary market has decreased over the past year but is still above the original cost.

And the shortage is expected to last at least the whole of 2022, says Alexander Norén, who is a technology journalist.

- In a year or two, when more semiconductor factories are built, we will reach a balance.

Until the next perfect storm causes another shortage situation, says Alexander Norén.

He further believes that the main problem lies in the difficulty of adapting the semiconductor capacity in a short time.

The previous console generation sells more

During the launch year, the very latest consoles have been overtaken by the old generation in sales.

During the fall, Playstation 4 overtook Playstation 5 with 400,000 copies sold.

But despite extensive setbacks, the game manufacturers' customer loyalty is expected to remain intact, says Effie Karabuda, who is a game journalist.

- Above all, Playstation and Xbox are strong enough to get out of this crisis.

They also have no competitors apart from each other so the consumer is dependent on these two, says Effie Karabuda and continues:

- People will wait and do basically anything to get them.

There will be sour mines for a while, but customers are willing to wait.

Here you can learn about the semiconductor shortage:

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After a year on the market - the game console shortage continues

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