A New PS5 Model Is Coming Soon
A new PS5 model is coming in 2022. Here's what we know.
This article is more than 2 years old
Sony’s PlayStation 5 console had somewhat of a rocky start due to the global pandemic’s influence on the world’s economy and the shortage of semiconductor elements necessary for making processing chips. The supply of PlayStation 5’s is still limited, and the console sells out as soon as it restocks at retailers, prompting Sony to reconsider and possibly redesign the PS5 gaming platform in an attempt to meet the demand.
Gaming Route, an online site dedicated to all things gaming, reported that a new model of PS5 enters production in 2022. According to their article, the chip suppliers, including the TSMC semiconductor foundry, are expected to start producing the redesign of Sony’s PS5 game console in 2022, most likely between the second and third annual quarter. Sources state that the new PS5 model will come with a new “semi-customized” 6nm CPU from AMD and that the redesign might be purely internal rather than a complete makeover. This statement follows up Sony’s annual earnings report, which states that PS5 beat its predecessor, the PS4, during the first year. Now, they’re aiming higher.
During the company’s annual report, Sony’s CEO, Hiroko Totoki, expressed hopes that the sales will surpass 14.8 million units, which was PS4’s second-year sales figure. However, Totoki also confirmed that the current semiconductor shortage is directly responsible for the delay and that the company needs to make some changes if they’re hoping to meet the demand and surpass sales figures of PlayStation 4. Finding a secondary resource of silicon and semiconductors or changing the hardware design of PS5 would certainly help Sony mitigate the shortage and speed up production.
This could be achieved by adjusting the amount of silicon needed for the chips while improving cooling systems to keep the console’s performance at optimal levels. Lower material requirements would certainly mitigate semiconductor shortages but demand better cooling options to “alleviate” any potential throttle that might happen to the newly designed CPU. This could have a significant impact on production costs, but that’s already an issue for Sony. Sony has been selling its PS5 gaming console at a loss since its launch last November. But the company covers its losses through exclusives and other high-budget releases, which was Sony’s financial strategy from the start.
Despite the financial losses and disruptions of the supply chain, Sony sold over 7.8 million PS5’s by March 31, 2021, which surpasses PlayStation 4’s sales figures within the same timeframe. Sony refused to guarantee that the company will be able to satisfy the PS5 demand by the 2021 holiday sales season, with Jim Ryan (CEO) commenting that “there are very few magic wands that can be waved.” Finding additional semiconductor suppliers and incorporating redesigns into their PS5 console would certainly help Sony increase its supply. However, the company’s higher-ups commented on the situation, stating that it will improve by month throughout the year, suggesting really decent numbers in the second half of 2021.
Sony’s redesigned PS5 would require a lot less silicon in its processing units, allowing the company to make more with less. As things are now, the new PS5 model enters production in 2022, and you might actually be able to get hold of the new one.
