Microsoft says the squeeze on Xbox Series X console supplies will continue until the summer, as genuine gamers struggle to stay ahead of online scalpers and bots snapping up all of the supplies.
Speaking to the New York Times, Microsoft’s head of investor relations Mike Spencer says the consoles are likely to be hard to come by until the end of June at the earliest. Microsoft had previously admitted the supplies will be restrained until April, but it appears the situation is more dire than it appeared around the launch of the console.
In November, Xbox CFO Tim Stuart said “I think we’ll continue to see supply shortages as we head into the post-holiday quarter, so Microsoft’s Q3, calendar Q1 [the period ending March 31, 2021]. And then when we get to [Microsoft’s Q4, April-June 2021], all of our supply chain continuing to go full speed heading into kind of the pre-summer months.”
In comments translated by Seeking Alpha, Stuart added: “We’ll have supply cranking over the next, what, 4, 5, 6 months. And that’s when I expect to see really that demand profile start to be met, which will be really, really great.”
So far, Microsoft has sold every single next-gen Xbox console it has, at it looks to meet the astonishing global demand for the new systems. Sony is experiencing a similar quandary in making the PS5 available to gamers, who find themselves being outmanoeuvred by scalpers quickly snapping up the supply and selling consoles for double the original asking price.
Right now it doesn’t appear as if Sony, Microsoft or retail partners are doing nearly enough to ensure those buying the consoles are genuine gamers. US mega-retailer Walmart recently revealed the scale of the problem and its noble efforts to beat the “Grinch bots”. In a blog post, Walmart said it blocked a truly staggering 20 million bot attempts to buy a PS5 within the first half-an-hour of a recent sales event.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.