Sony Denies Bloomberg Report, Not Slashing Production Number For PlayStation 5

An initial report made by Bloomberg that Sony Corporation would be reducing manufacturing plans for the PlayStation 5 by four million units is being denied by Sony.

Bloomberg earlier reported that production issues with the PlayStation 5’s custom-designed system-on-chip resulted in production yields sinking as low as 50%. This meant that Sony would be unable to produce the number of consoles it originally planned.

Although production yields were supposedly improving, they have not yet reached a stable enough level to meet Sony’s initial targets.

The Bloomberg report further stated that the number of PS5 units to be produced during the current fiscal year was being reduced by Sony to 11 million units. That same report resulted in Sony’s shares being down by as much as 3.5%, the biggest intraday drop since August.

It was reported earlier this year that Sony would be limiting the first-year production of the PlayStation 5 to a maximum of six million units.

Yet because the coronavirus pandemic increased the number of times people spent playing video games resulting in increased gaming indoors, Sony subsequently increased its production plans, initially up to 10 million units.

The quarantine lifestyle pushed PlayStation Plus subscriptions to record levels while also generating big sales for first-party exclusive titles in the form of “The Last of Us Part II” and “Ghost of Tsushima.”

After the initial report broke, Sony reached out to GamesIndustry.biz with the following statement to deny the report:

“While we do not release details related to manufacturing, the information provided by Bloomberg is false," the statement reads.

"We have not changed the production number for PlayStation 5 since the start of mass production."

A PlayStation 5 Showcase has been scheduled by Sony on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT.

The event is expected to reveal the price of the next-gen console as well as an actual release date in the wake of Microsoft announcing the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will be priced at $499 and $299 respectively. Both consoles from Microsoft are scheduled for a Nov. 10 launch.