Console supplies ‘could remain rocky through 2022’, says Xbox CFO

Xbox’s chief financial officer Tim Stuart has claimed that supply chain issues affecting the console market may continue throughout 2022.

In a recent investor call hosted by financial services company Baird (as reported by Gi.biz), Stuart claimed “that the supply chain environment could remain rocky through 2022 and the holiday season.”

While Xbox Series X and PS5 have been available for nearly 18 months, both continue to suffer from stock issues as a result of a global chip shortage. Microsoft‘s lower-power new-gen console, Xbox Series S, has been far more widely available.

Stuart said multiple issues are facing the supply chain. These include part shortages, which reportedly “favour Series S consoles”, and “elevated logistics pricing pressuring margins.”

Microsoft claimed in April that strong Xbox Series X/S sales had seen the company capture market share for two consecutive quarters.

The announcement was made as the company’s gaming business posted record revenue for a non-holiday quarter.

However, looking ahead to the current quarter ending in June, Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said: “In gaming, we expect revenue to decline in the mid to high single digits driven by lower engagement hours year-over-year as well as constrained console supply.

“We expect Xbox content and services revenue to decline mid-single digits though engagement hours are expected to remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.”

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Nintendo’s president said in May that the global chip shortage would continue to hamper Switch production efforts for the foreseeable future.

“There’s no end in sight to the semiconductor shortage at this point,” Shuntaro Furukawa said.