With that said, because the Suez Canal is a key international trade route, there is a very distinct possibility that it’s making the current PS5 stock shortage a whole lot worse.
Ever Given Impact Extends to PlayStation 5 Supply
The Ever Given, which is the name of the humongous container ship currently stuck in the Suez Canal, is causing an international problem. At the moment, the ship is currently blocking all ships from passing through the canal. But while it’s understandable that this affects the transportation of goods, specifically of those going to and from Europe and Asia, it seems like it’s also making the PS5 stock shortage worse. The Suez Canal in Egypt has been used for the better part of the past two centuries. It took 10 years to build from 1859 to 1869. Although the Suez is an integral part of international trade, it has been a subject of controversy. Many criticize the route for making use of forced labor back in the day. It’s also seen its fair share of battles and warfare, including one featured in Battlefield 1. According to Business Insider, many consumer electronics are made and manufactured in Asian factories. This includes the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X, among many others. Because the Suez Canal makes up roughly around 10% of all international grade, experts have reason to believe that the market could feel the effects of the stuck ship for months. The same experts point out how such delivery delays also mean that ships take longer to return to port to ship out goods to other parts of the globe.
Are PlayStation 5 Stocks and Availability Expected to Improve?
The PS5 stock shortage is heavily due to the overarching issue of the lack of semiconductor ships available worldwide. The said chips are used in a lot of consumer electronics and this means that it’s a problem that extends far beyond just that of the PlayStation 5. As of the moment, the effect of the shortage extends to the supply of graphics cards, processors, smartphones, and even vehicles. So grave is the effect of this global semiconductor shortage that governments from all over the world are paying close attention to it. Chief among them is the United States President, Joseph Biden. The newly-seated Chief of State recently announced a 100-day investigation into the semiconductor shortage. With that said, we shouldn’t expect the PS5 stock shortage to be resolved soon. However, it’s not all bad news. The stocks and availability of Sony’s latest flagship console have steadily improved over the past few months. In particular, GameStop and Target are starting to stock the next-gen consoles more frequently than in prior months. Unfortunately, a resolution to the Suez Canal fiasco doesn’t spell an end to the PS5 stock shortage. There remain other problems that make getting your hands on a PlayStation 5 difficult. Case in point, scalpers using bots to instantly clear out store inventories to sell them for profit. If it’s any consolation though, Sony and Microsoft continue to support their last-gen consoles. So, if you don’t have a gaming console yet, you can do a lot worse than spending money on a PlayStation 4 Pro or Xbox One X.
