Sony denies using PS4 production to offset PS5 shortage

Sony has denied reports claiming that PS4 production was ramped up in order to mitigate the continued shortage of PS5 consoles. 

In a statement to Japanese site Nlab (spotted by Yahoo), a Sony Interactive Entertainment representative claimed that, "It is not true that the PS4 production suspension was withdrawn due to the lack of PS4," according to a machine translation of the article. "There was no plan to end the production of PS4 at the end of last year." 

Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that because the chips that drive PS4s are easier to manufacture than the more advanced PS5 chips, Sony has pushed to produce roughly one million additional PS4 consoles over the course of 2022, seemingly to boost its presence in the console market. There's no doubt that PS5s, much like basically everything else with a silicon wafer at the core of its processor, are in short supply, but Sony's statement suggests that its plans for the PS4 were unaffected by this. 

Ongoing supply constraints haven't stopped the PS5 from becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation console. It topped 10 million units sold faster than any previous generation.

Curiously, the Xbox Series X has mirrored these conditions very closely. The Xbox Series X and S have collectively become Microsoft's fastest-selling consoles despite limited supplies. However, Microsoft actually discontinued production of its previous console generation, the Xbox One X and S, toward the end of 2020. 

One analyst predicts PS5 will double the sales of the Xbox Series X and S in 2022.