- Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S demand will be “constrained by supply” in the coming weeks as Microsoft attempts to keep its new game consoles in stock.
- In an earnings call, Microsoft made it clear that the supply problems will not be resolved soon.
- Despite supply issues, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the Xbox Series X and Series S launch was “the most successful in our history with the most devices ever sold in a launch month.”
Finding a new console has been all but impossible since they launched last fall. High demand, complications arising from the pandemic, and a robust scalper operation made a mess of the market, and now countless gamers who just want a PS5, Xbox Series X, or Xbox Series S are staking out retailer websites in hopes that they’ll add to cart at the exact right nanosecond to secure a console. The situation is unlikely to improve any time soon, either.
In a quarterly earnings call this week, Microsoft chief financial officer Amy Hood said that demand for game consoles “has significantly exceeded supply following the Xbox Series X and S launches.” The Series X and Series S launched on November 10th, and nearly three months later, both consoles are rarely in stock anywhere.
Hood thinks this pattern will continue: “In gaming, we expect continued strong engagement on the Xbox platform and significant demand for the Xbox Series X and S that will still be constrained by supply.”
This tracks with what Xbox boss Phil Spencer said on the Xbox Podcast about supply at the end of last year:
It is really just down to physics and engineering. We’re not holding them back. We’re building them as fast as we can. We have all of the assembly lines going. I was on the phone last week with [AMD’s CEO] Lisa Su, “How do we get more? How do we get more?” So it’s something that we’re constantly working on, but it’s not just us. I think gaming has really come into its own in 2020.
But as difficult as it’s been to find consoles, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the launch has been a success:
The launch of Xbox Series X and Series S was the most successful in our history with the most devices ever sold in a launch month. Game developers are benefiting too as they turn to us to reach more players and scale the games using the power of our cloud. We exceeded $2 billion in revenue from third-party titles this quarter for the first time. We’re gaining console share as gamers recognize the value of our broader ecosystem. Xbox Live has more than a 100 million monthly active users while Game Pass now has 18 million subscribers and we are transforming how games are distributed played and viewed bringing cloud gaming and Game Pass to iOS devices and Windows PCs over the next few months.
Microsoft recently attempted to snuff out any goodwill that it had built up by effectively doubling the price of Xbox Live Gold, but the company reversed its decision hours later after the internet lashed out.
