Sony vows to ramp up PS5 production to levels 'never achieved before'

One of Sony's top priorities going forward is to ramp up production for the PlayStation 5 to meet unprecedented demand for the console. In a briefing with investors (PDF), the company said that it expects to close the gap in PS4 and PS5 sales this year after the newer console lagged behind its older sibling in 2021. Sony blamed the lack of PS5 sales on its inability to build enough units due to ongoing supply chain shortages in its quarterly earnings report. There's no lack of demand: Based on the data Sony presented, it takes only 82 minutes to to sell 80,000 PS5 units, whereas it takes nine days to sell the same number of PS4s.

The company now expects to be able to produce more units as supply chain shortages have eased up a bit, but the pandemic's impact on parts availability still remains a concern. In addition, Sony is worried that the Russian invasion of Ukraine might also affect its logistics and potential parts inventory. To mitigate the impact of those issues, Sony plans to source from multiple suppliers "for greater agility in unstable market conditions." It also has ongoing negotiations to maintain optimal delivery routes for the console.

With those solutions in place, the company believes PS5 sales can overtake the PS4's again starting next year. Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan said during the briefing that after the initial ramp up, the company is "planning for heavy further increases in console production, taking [it] to production levels that [it has] never achieved before."

Aside from discussing its PS5 production goals, Sony has also revealed that it's expanding PlayStation Studios by acquiring more game studios, as well as increasing its investments in live services, PC and mobile offerings. It's committing to launch 12 live services in the coming years that don't include Destiny, which will be the company's as part of its Bungie acquisition. And it intends to have half of its annual first party releases on PC and on mobile by 2025. "By expanding to PC and mobile, and it must be said… also to live services, we have the opportunity to move from a situation of being present in a very narrow segment of the overall gaming software market, to being present pretty much everywhere," Ryan explained.