Spencer’s comment reveals the mindset of industry leaders and echoes the sentiments of another Microsoft Gaming executive. Earlier in the year, Xbox’s chief financial officer, Tim Stuart, made a similar comment when he said that console supplies could “remain rocky through 2022 and the holiday season”. Things are not all gloom, though. Spencer believes the current situation will improve in 2023 to the point where gamers can walk into stores and pick up an Xbox Series S or X. The supply chain issues can be traced as far back as 2020 when the pandemic resulted in a global chip shortage. Since then, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S and X supplies have had trouble meeting up with customers’ demand. However, things have looked up recently. Nevertheless, demand continues to outpace supply, which has left many gamers unable to secure a console promptly. In other news, Xbox UK announced it will not increase the price of its consoles. This announcement follows Sony’s price increment for the PlayStation 5 across some of its markets: Europe, UK, Canada, Australia, Mexico, China, and Japan because of rising manufacturing and distribution costs. However, this price hike won’t affect the US market, which is still responsible for most PS5 sales. Analysts do not expect the price hike to affect sales as demand for the PlayStation 5 console still exceeds supply anyway. Nevertheless, many believe Sony’s hike will benefit the Xbox Series S and X consoles. Microsoft has already positioned the consoles as the affordable alternative to the PlayStation 5 and this has led to the company experiencing record console sales. With Sony’s hike, this view may be reinforced and the Xbox Series S and X will experience even more sales than their counterpart.
