With such high demand for PS5 and Xbox Series X stock in December, it’s hard to see everyone getting a console before the end of the year.
Sporadic restock events are expected over the coming weeks in both the UK and the United States, but it won’t be enough to keep up with demand.
That’s the verdict from Xbox’s Phil Spencer, who revealed in a recent interview that the current situation of buying consoles could last until Spring 2021.
That’s a long time to wait for a next-gen console if you’re ready to buy now, although there’s a lot of gamers out there who are happy to wait until more stock is available.
Speaking to The Verge, Phil Spencer confirmed how the current situation unfolded and the limitations on how much additional Xbox Series X stock can be produced, revealing:
“We’re building at full capacity for now, a few months. And we continue to. Units continue to hit the shelves.
“Demand is just incredibly high right now. The biggest disappointment for me in this launch — but I’m also happy with it — is people love the product. The demand is high, such that when you’re going to see product hit the shelf, it goes very quickly. If you want one, I sound like a salesman now, but I’d recommend picking one up when you see it.
“Because we’re going to be in this situation, probably into the spring, maybe not as tight as it is now, but demand is just really high, and we’re building. We start the supply chain back in the summer.
“We’re building; we’re building. There’s just physics in how many lines at the fab you can put in the assembly lines. You can build as many as you can build, and that’s what we’ve been doing. There are decisions around mix, like how many of the S and the X do you build. You have to make decisions on that.”
It’s interesting to note that the Xbox Series X remains sold out in both the UK and the United States, even with stiff competition from Sony’s PS5.
AdAge reports: “The report found that Sony spent about $7.3 million up to the day of launch, while Microsoft spent about $3 million.
“Although competitor Nintendo did not release a new console, the report found that it too increased its ad spend. From Nov. 2 to Nov. 15, Nintendo’s ad spend was 138% higher than the previous two weeks.
“Thanks to those three category leaders, Todd Krizelman, CEO and founder of MediaRadar, says the two-week period at the start of November (Nov. 2 to Nov. 15) was the most active for the video gaming category in terms of ad spend so far in 2020. Overall, the video game industry spent more than $45 million on ads, up 80% year-over-year.”
According to this new data, April was the last month in 2020 where the industry saw such a spike, and that was mainly connected to the COVID crisis, which left many quarantining at home.
