Xbox console supply constraints will last into 2022

Microsoft’s Xbox chief, Phil Spencer, says console supply issues will continue into 2022. In an interview with The Wrap, spotted by Video Games Chronicle, Spencer admits the Xbox supply issues will last for the rest of the year and into 2022 due to supply chain complications beyond just a chip shortage.

“I think it’s probably too isolated to talk about it as just a chip problem,” says Spencer. “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.”

The global chip shortage has impacted various companies for 18 months now. Car manufacturers have had to scale back production of vehicles, and it’s been near impossible to find stock of new graphics cards, PS5s, and Xbox consoles.

Spencer isn’t alone in his predictions about the supply issues, either. Chip manufacturer TSMC warned earlier this year that the industry chip shortages could continue through 2022. Last month, Nvidia said it expects GPU supply constraints for the “vast majority” of 2022.