It's been more than a year since its launch, the PlayStation 5 is still very hard to find on the market. To overcome this stock shortage, Sony has actually boosted the production of the PlayStation 4.
According to a recent report from Bloomberg, Sony originally planned to stop production of the PS4 at the end of 2021. But to fill the void in PS5 stock, they will continue to produce up to one million PS4 units in 2022.
Sony refuted claims that PS4 production would be discontinued last year. They also confirmed that the PS4 will still be produced this year.
"This (PS4) is one of the best-selling consoles ever, and there will always be crossover between generations," said a Sony spokesperson, as quoted by IGN.
According to an unnamed Bloomberg source, Sony chose to produce more PS4s because the components are readily available, easier to manufacture, and can be an alternative at a more affordable price.
Sony is currently struggling to produce the PS5 to meet high demand due to the global chip crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Until now, the crisis has not shown any sign of ending and is still affecting various sectors, including technology.
According to Sony officials who did not want to be named, this strategy aims to fill the stock void while keeping gamers alive in the PlayStation ecosystem. In addition, increasing the production of cheaper PS4s also makes it easier for Sony to negotiate with manufacturing partners.
PS4 can indeed be an alternative because currently there are several AAA games that support backwards compatibility, such as Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarok. But of course he is quite old even though he still has support from Sony.
PS4 was launched on November 15, 2013 and to date there have been 116 million units sold. Even after the PS5 launched, the PS4 was still selling well and sold 3.1 million units worldwide.