Japanese manufacturers Sony and Nintendo have announced that their game consoles are likely to be limited again this year. The situation is due to a lack of components – it exacerbates the problem that has affected both companies.

“There’s no end in sight to the semiconductor shortage at this point,” said Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa.

Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki said the company plans to sell 18 million units of the PlayStation 5 game console by March 2023 – instead of the planned 22.6 million. According to him, demand exceeds supply.

Among other problems, Totoki mentioned the restrictions in China related to Covid-19. Including a lockdown in Shanghai, which has made it difficult for local companies to manufacture and ship parts used in game consoles.

“Our production is likely to suffer if the pandemic situation in China worsens or if the lockdown expands,” he said.

PlayStation 5 has been hard to get since its release in 2020. In the last fiscal year, which ended in March 2022, the company reported 11.5 million consoles sold instead of the planned 14.8 million.

However, Sony has some advantages. The company not only sells video game equipment, but also has other profitable departments. Together with the good results of the film studio, music department and consumer electronics department, this led to a record profit of $9.2 billion last fiscal year.

Instead, Nintendo is more dependent on hardware sales. Last fiscal year, their sales and profits fell slightly. The company expects a further decline this year due to supply problems.

According to Nintendo, the company sold more than 23 million Switch consoles last year, 20% less than the previous year. This year, they expect sales to fall to 21 million units.

The president of Nintendo said that even this figure is inaccurate because the supply of semiconductors and other components remains volatile. This year, the company’s profit is projected to fall to ¥340 billion, equivalent to $2.6 billion. Last fiscal year, they received ¥478 billion.