If you were betting on spending your lockdown savings on an Xbox Series X or Series S console for Christmas, you may have a hard time finding one. Current shortages of the newly launched Microsoft consoles seem likely to continue well into 2021.

Microsoft recently announced the shortage in stock in a virtual press conference. During the conference, CFO Tim Stuart said that he expected Xbox Series X and S shortages to continue into the first calendar quarter of 2021 — that is, through March. “I think we’ll continue to see supply shortages as we head into the post-holiday quarter, so Microsoft’s Q3, calendar Q1,” said Stuart.

Although we don’t know exactly how many next-gen consoles Microsoft sold over the launch period, Stuart said that this had been one of the most successful product launches the company has seen. That’s not surprising considering the growing gaming industry. We’re all sitting at home under lockdown, the least we could do is game, right?

But this is less-than-satisfactory news for anyone looking to get their hands on the latest Xbox kit. We’ve seen similar supply issues with the new PlayStation from Sony. This is especially true if you’re based in SA, which automatically gets a smaller allocation of hardware.

It’s interesting in that Microsoft doesn’t seem too bothered to have stock throughout the festive season — arguably the best time to sell consumer goods. It’s pretty convinced that hype will hold until April of 2021, after which more stock will be available and more people will be able to get in on the next-gen action.

Source: Engadget