With the launch of the next generation of consoles imminent later in 2020, industry analysts have begun speculating that Sony and Microsoft may have to delay the launch of their latest consoles due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus.
Delays and cancellations due to the coronavirus seem to be the news of the week. While yesterday we reported on several companies, including Amazon, LG and Nvidia, pulling out of Mobile World Congress 2020 due to fears of spreading the coronavirus. Now there are fears that the virus that the virus, which has claimed roughly over a thousand lives at the time of writing, will delay the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
These delays aren’t really a surprise given how Nintendo recently announced that the Switch may experience manufacturing delays. In an investors call, Jefferies Group stated to investors that, “The video game sector is currently manufacturing, or beginning to, a once-in-several-years’ product generation change for the 2020 holiday season. If [company] shutdowns exceed a month or so, game schedules will be delayed. New consoles may likewise suffer supply issues from a prolonged disruption, ahead of their Fall 2020 planned launches.”
These delays will largely be due to manufacturing issues in China. According to Daniel Ahmad, industry analyst extraordinaire, “96% of video game consoles imported into the U.S. in 2018 were produced in China. Whilst companies such as Nintendo have moved some manufacturing abroad, China still accounts for the majority.”
While Sony and Microsoft have yet to comment on the conjecture raised by analysts, if the coronavirus does continue to spread at the rate it is, it seems possible that the next generation of consoles could be delayed.