Coronavirus prompts Sony to boost PlayStation 5 production by 50%: Report
Sony has confirmed PlayStation 5 will ship this year in time for the holiday shopping season.
Sony has boosted production of its next-gen PlayStation 5 video game console by as much as 50 percent to meet an expected increase in demand from customers stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report Wednesday.
The company has placed production orders for about nine million PlayStation 5 consoles, Nikkei Asian Review reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Sony originally planned to produce about six million consoles for the initial launch.
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A Sony representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The video game industry experienced a boom in recent months as consumers sheltered in place during the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon-owned Twitch, a popular video game streaming platform, reported a 50 percent increase in gaming hours from March to April. Video game sales jumped 35 percent to nearly $1.6 billion in March, according to data from NPD Group.
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Sony has confirmed PlayStation 5 will ship this year in time for the holiday shopping season. However, the company has yet to announce pricing information or a precise release date.
The upcoming console was unveiled in June. Sony plans to sell two versions, one with a physical disc drive and a “digital edition” meant for game downloads.
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Sony will once again go head-to-head with Microsoft, the manufacturer of the rival Xbox platform. Microsoft’s Xbox Series X is also scheduled for release this holiday season.
Sony’s PlayStation 4 outsold Microsoft’s Xbox One by a significant margin after the respective releases in 2013.