PS5 and Xbox supplier AMD expects chip shortage to ease in second half of 2022
But CEO Lisa Su says supplies will likely remain “tight” in the first half of next year
AMD, which makes the CPUs and GPUs inside PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, expects chip supply issues to ease gradually in the second half of 2022.
Speaking at the Code Conference in California on Monday (via CNBC), AMD CEO Lisa Su said chip supplies for the first half of next year will be “likely tight.”
However, she expects the global shortage to be less severe in the second half of 2022 as new manufacturing plants start to bear fruit.
“It might take, you know, 18 to 24 months to put on a new plant, and in some cases even longer than that,” Su said. “These investments were started perhaps a year ago.”
Console manufacturers have struggled with stock shortages for over 18 months now, after the Covid-19 pandemic shut down essential supply chains and saw demand for gaming devices increase significantly as countries implemented social distancing measures.
Last week, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said current console supply issues will continue into 2022.
He told The Wrap that a shortage of chips wasn’t the only thing stopping Microsoft getting as many Xbox Series X/S consoles onto store shelves as it would like.
Xbox Series X/S at retail
“I think it’s probably too isolated to talk about it as just a chip problem,” Spencer said. “When I think about, what does it mean to get the parts necessary to build a console today, and then get it to the markets where the demand is, there are multiple kind of pinch points in that process.
“And I think regretfully it’s going to be with us for months and months, definitely through the end of this calendar year and into the next calendar year.”