The global semiconductor shortage has been one of the biggest obstacles that has been throttling hardware sales in the games industry (and beyond) for a couple of years at this point, and recent fiscal results by platform holders has once again reinforced that. Sony only managed to move 11.5 million units of the PS5 between April 2021 and March 2022, while the Nintendo Switch shipped 23.06 million units in the same period, which is 20% down from what it managed in the previous fiscal year.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the semiconductor shortage will be coming to an end anytime soon. During Nintendo’s recent quarterly call, Shuntaro Furukawa – president of the Japanese company – expressed as much in quite plain words. “There’s no end in sight to the semiconductor shortage at this point,” he said (via Wall Street Journal).
Recently, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger echoed those sentiments, stating that the company is now expecting the global chip shortage to extend into as far as 2024.
As recent reports have indicated, the shortage has been exacerbated of late by COVID-enforced lockdowns in Shanghai, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing conflict has also affected manufacturing and supply lines.
Nintendo has said that it expects 21 million units of worldwide shipments of the Nintendo Switch in the current fiscal year (April 2022-March 2023).
