Chip Shortage Will Continue To Limit Game Console Supply

By M. Kang

Posted on September 7, 2021

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Gaming has gotten more and more popular since the start of the pandemic. Yet, due to a chip supply shortage, console supply has also been severely impacted. Unfortunately, it does not appear as if things will be looking up as insiders claim the chip supply will continue to be limited.

According to Bloomberg (via Nintendo Life), Toshiba Corp. representatives do not see the chip supply matching demand in the near future. As Takeshi Kamebuchi, a director at one of the company’s units in charge of semiconductors, stated, “The supply of chips will remain very tight until at least September next year… In some cases, we may find some customers not being fully served until 2023.”

Although Toshiba is only one manufacturer among many of chips, their forecast certainly does not bode well for the industry as a whole. With the automotive and gaming industries particularly hurt by the lack of chips, Toshiba is looking to invest in upping its manufacturing capacity.

What this means for gamers is that the wait for some of the latest consoles may continue into at least 2022, maybe 2023. As the reporter on the Bloomberg article noted, if players aren’t able to acquire the first batch of Nintendo Switch OLED consoles, the outlook for getting a console may be a little grim.