Two months after their release in France, the Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series X are nowhere to be found.
The two video game consoles go like hot cakes… when there are some on the shelves, which only happens very occasionally.
The fault of the Covid but also a lack of components provided by the partners of Sony and Microsoft.
The year started as badly as the previous one had ended for the world of culture.
The hoped-for reopening of places welcoming the public did not take place on January 7.
As a result, cinemas, theaters and concert halls will remain closed at least until the end of January.
During this time, the curfew is extended and you have to spend your evenings at home.
For this, some were lucky enough to receive a Playstation 5 or an Xbox Series X, the latest video game consoles, at Christmas.
But there are not many happy ones, stocks are very limited since their release in November.
Bad news, it may last a few more months.
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For those who haven't found a PS5 or Series X under the tree, there is hardly any hope of finding one in the next few weeks.
There will be yes, but not everywhere and only in small quantities during one-off sales.
Each distributor adopts a different strategy.
It is possible to pre-order them on certain sites, at Intermarché for example, but without knowing when they will be delivered.
Others, like Fnac and Amazon, prefer not to take any risk by not announcing a date or pre-order.
Lack of components
Two months after their release, the consoles of Sony and Microsoft are therefore almost impossible to find.
Why ?
Quite simply because factories are not keeping pace with demand.
“A lot of people ask me, 'Why didn't you make more? Why didn't you start production earlier?'
It's just a matter of engineering now, "Xbox boss Phil Spencer explained in a year-end review.
"I really wish we had more consoles. They are sold out so quickly… I assure you that we do not hold them in our factories and I thank you for your patience."
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Is there a match between the Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series X?
These excuses are also accompanied by explanations that shed light on the delay in production.
"All the production lines are running at full capacity, we are going as fast as possible. I was still on the phone recently with our suppliers, asking them how it was possible to have more components", said Phil Spencer, referring in particular the case of AMD, which supplies graphics cards and motherboards for the Xbox but also… for the Playstation 5. Sony and Microsoft both ask for more components from AMD, which cannot satisfy everyone .
Result: it will be necessary to wait until March, or even April, to have an almost sufficient supply of consoles.