Sony says it is not increasing PS4 production to deal with the current PS5 shortage
It's plans never changed.
Sony has denied reports that it is extending production of PS4 consoles to due to the shortage of PS5 consoles.
The denial comes on the heels of a Bloomberg report which claimed Sony had originally planned to end PS4 production in 2021.
Saying this is not the case at all, Sony told NLab production and sales of PS4 consoles was already in the plan to continue in conjunction with PS5.
In contrast, Microsoft stopped producing Xbox One S and Xbox One X consoles at the end of 2020. The company stopped making Xbox One X back in July 2020, but Xbox One S manufacturing continued until the end of the year.
Both PS5 and Xbox Series X are hard to come by at the moment, due to both chip shortages and scalpers lining up to resell the consoles for profit. Many retailers sell out within minutes of posting the consoles online, sometimes within seconds. To combat resellers, many sites have adopted a lottery, which can be rather frustrating.
As far as the chip shortage is concerned, things seem to be getting better, but things aren't expect to go back to normal anytime soon.
The ongoing chip shortage can be attributed to many factories shutting down during the COVID-19 pandemic. This resulted in supplies, which were needed for chip manufacturing, being unavailable for months. The pandemic also saw an uptick in consumer demand for electronics and as manufacturers went back to work, companies became overrun with so many orders it became almost impossible to meet demand. We are all well aware of the lack of availability of Xbox Series X/S and PS5 consoles, but the chip shortage hasn't just affected console and electronics production, but automotive companies have taken a hit as well. And this has had a trickle-down effect. Prices on electronics that feature chips have gone up amid the shortages, and with fewer new cars being produced, more people are buying used - which has caused pre-owned vehicle prices to skyrocket.
Hopefully, things will get back to normal soon, but some have estimated the shortage will continue into at least the third quarter of 2022. Some estimates state the shortage will continue into 2023. Hopefully, it's the former, and after that, we should see more product availability.