Electronics

Due to the continued impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, American and Japanese game console manufacturers such as Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft are currently being hit by a shortage of spare parts. Although newly launched models are sought after by the market, their future performance growth may be suppressed by insufficient production capacity.

According to foreign media reports, Japanese game maker Nintendo will launch a new generation of game console Switch Pro at the E3 Game Show in the United States. The Nintendo Switch series has created brilliant sales figures last year and has become a beneficiary of the "home economy". However, under the influence of the current shortage of spare parts, it may repeat the mistakes of Sony’s PS5 and Microsoft’s Xbox series of game consoles being out of stock.

Since last year, Nintendo has benefited from the "home economy" and has functions such as fitness, entertainment, and social interaction at home, becoming Nintendo's best-selling game console in history. Due to hardware upgrades, the price of Switch Pro may be higher than the standard version of Switch's $299, which also reflects the factors that increase the price of parts out of stock.

Sony and Microsoft have also increased their demand due to the epidemic. However, the sales of the Sony PS5 and Microsoft Xbox series that were launched in the second half of last year have stagnated. The main factor is the shortage of spare parts, and the sharp reduction in production cannot meet market demand. Sony has confirmed that due to strong market demand and shortage of spare parts, PS5 may continue to be out of stock until 2022, and the supply chain reconstruction is expected to take several years.

Japanese media pointed out that Nintendo has slightly lowered this year's shipments. In the case of semiconductor shortages, the initial output of the new generation of game console Switch Pro may also be quite limited.

"Nihon Keizai Shimbun" reported that due to the shortage of spare parts and insufficient production capacity, the price of Japanese game consoles has begun to skyrocket in the second-hand trading market, and the demand for second-hand game consoles is also very strong.

PS5 will be launched in 2020. It is the first new game console launched by Sony Group in 7 years. It is very popular with consumers due to its good performance. The report pointed out that due to the shortage of global semiconductor supply, PS5 production has been unable to keep up. Sony Group’s vice president and chief financial officer Hiroki Toshima pointed out: “It is expected that this fiscal year will focus on semiconductors, and component supply constraints will continue.”