Sony might postpone the launch of the PlayStation 6 until 2028 or 2029 due to a shortage driven by AI, which is causing consumer tech companies to urgently seek out memory chips

Sony is contemplating postponing the debut of its upcoming gaming console due to a persistent memory shortage issue.

Sources familiar with Sony's strategy informed Bloomberg that the launch of the next PlayStation could be deferred until 2028 or even 2029. This potential delay is expected to significantly disrupt Sony's plans to maintain user activity across different hardware generations.

Meanwhile, Nintendo, which inadvertently increased demand last year as players sought extra storage when the Switch 2 launched, is reportedly considering a price increase later this year. However, both Nintendo and Sony have not commented on Bloomberg's inquiries regarding this matter.

The tech sector overall is witnessing intense competition for memory resources, as AI data centers owned by companies such as Alphabet and OpenAI are purchasing large quantities of memory chips, leaving fewer available for consumer electronics such as consoles and PCs. This has led some to refer to the situation as "RAMmageddon."

Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing recently stated in an earnings call that the mismatch between supply and demand is not a temporary fluctuation. Similarly, Manish Bhatia, Executive Vice President of operations at Micron, remarked to Bloomberg last December that this is the most substantial mismatch between demand and supply in terms of scale and duration he has observed in his 25-year career.

Sony's latest financial report indicates that the company shipped 8 million units of the console during the holiday season, marking a 15.7% drop in sales from the 9.5 million units sold by the end of Q3 in December 2024.

CFO Lin Tao noted that while PS5 hardware sales experienced a moderate decline in the later stages of the console's lifecycle, the PlayStation Store's software revenue soared to a new peak during the quarter. This increase was largely driven by major third-party franchise releases and successful new games.