Nearly three months after the launch of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, Microsoft is still struggling to meet demand for its new consoles, with the expectation that the out of stock will continue until at least April 2021.
But during a recent appearance on Xbox Live, director of programming for Larry Hyrb’s video podcast (also known as Major Nelson) (via VGC), Xbox boss Phil Spencer assured fans that the company is “working on maximum we can “to make more Xbox Series X stock available, with the executive revealing that he even approached AMD to ask if the processor manufacturer could increase production to meet demand.
“I get some people [asking], ‘why didn’t you build more? Why didn’t you start earlier? Why didn’t you dispatch them before? ‘All these things, ”said Spencer to Hyrb. “It’s really just a matter of physics and engineering. We are not stopping them: we are building them as soon as possible. We have all the assembly lines in progress. I was on the phone last week with Lisa Su at AMD [asking], ‘how can we get more?’ So it is something that we are constantly working on. “
AMD manufactures the GPU and CPU for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, with the console’s custom-designed processor consisting of an 8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU and a class 2 RDNA GPU. With AMD’s increased production of these chips, more consoles (in theory) could be manufactured by Microsoft.
But it’s not just Xbox consoles that use AMD chips. The PS5 also uses an AMD Radeon RDNA 2 GPU and 8-core AMD Zen 2 based CPU, and has been affected by a lack of stock since its launch.
“It’s not just us: the games really stood out in 2020,” Spencer told Hyrb. “Obviously, the PlayStation 5’s offer is very limited. When you look at the graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia … there is a lot of interest in games right now and console sales are just a sign of that, game sales are a sign of this and the hardware is in short supply.
“But we are working as hard as we can. The teams are incredibly dedicated and I appreciate people’s patience as we work to build more. “
How long can the shortage last?
Although Microsoft seems determined to build more consoles, it is inevitably linked to the components needed to create them.
We are currently seeing a shortage of AMD and Nvidia video cards, which could continue until February 2021.
According to the French publication Cowcotland, both AMD and Nvidia have been hit by GDDR6 supply restrictions and are likely to continue to face shortages until the beginning of next year. This GDDR6 RAM is used on the PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles – and may be affecting the production of the new consoles.
It is also possible that component shipments will be further hampered by global efforts to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine.
But it is not just the shortage of components that may be affecting the shortage of console stock: we have also seen scalpers buying consoles as soon as they go into stock before selling them at exorbitant prices online.
Microsoft has already stated that it is unlikely to be able to handle Xbox inventory issues until at least April this year. Speaking at the Jefferies Interactive Entertainment Virtual Conference in mid-November 2020, Xbox Chief Financial Officer Tim Stuart said the supply shortage would continue “as we move into the post-holiday quarter, so Microsoft’s third quarter, first quarter of the calendar. ” This suggests that we will not see a jump in console stock until we are well in 2021 – April at the very least, but quite possibly still at the end of the year.
“We will have the supply increasing in the next few, which, four, five, six months,” added Stuart. “And that’s when I really hope to see this demand profile start to be met.”