In recent months a topic that has come up a fair bit in gaming has been manufacturing issues; it impacted Nintendo to a degree in the middle of 2020 but the company nevertheless produced enough stock to report incredible hardware sales. Despite this, however, Nintendo has continued to highlight the risks around supplies and meeting demand; the consensus is that the company is in a decent position to avoid the worst of issues around production, but it's unlikely to be completely immune.
The headlines have primarily been around PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S to date, with the new systems (particularly PS5 and Series X) pretty much selling out immediately in all territories. Restocks are still disappearing within minutes as consumers scramble for stock, and the companies have warned that manufacturing struggles are likely to restrict availability throughout the year.
This is impacting broader technology industries, with the repercussions reaching pretty much any product with computes - such as cars. An issue that's been raised is that much of the world's semiconductor manufacturing is done in Asia, with major territories such as the US lagging far behind and therefore relying on imports.
It's an intriguing topic, and if you want more detail user '1WoomyNNYes' shared the report below in our forums. It's a '60 Minutes' segment from early May but it's still very relevant; reporter Lesley Stahl interviews two of the most important executives in the industry to get more information. Though it focuses on technology aside from gaming hardware, the actual information is relevant for Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft in the current market.
Enjoy!
[source cbsnews.com]
Comments 36
I wonder if there is a correlation between the stay at home order from last year and an increase in demand in tech?
We will know more in a year, but it could get pretty bad.
I really wish tech could be built to last 8 years instead of 4
I've been looking for a new laptop, but all these tech shortages means that all the ones in my price range are sold out
@pixelpatch (laughs in Nintendo and Super Nintendo Entertainment System)
@Kieroni What region have you been looking in?
Yo momma so stupid, it takes her an hour and a half to watch an episode of 60 Minutes 😂😂😂😂
@BloodNinja with foundries (companies that make chips for electronic devices) you need place a order a long time ahead of production like 1-2 years since we are talking about products for the mass. But then our best friend covid came and MANY companies from every sector like Nintendo and BMW and Dell etc. They thought that people would save their cold hard mula and said to those foundries we don’t need that many products (once again) thinking that people won’t spend much on luxury.
But then the opposite happened. People worked at home and got bored and started to play games, started their “useless” vacation money on things like cars and laptops since they could not go on vacation anyway.
Then companies like Dell, Nvidia etc wanted to get some extra chips produces of course because the demand was sky high. But foundries don’t work that way since you essentially need to pre order your stuff.
Even big car companies can’t keep up with demand and some even stopped producing.
What also made this worse is that there is shortage of the raw materials needed for baking those chips (yes it’s called baking) and that there have been a few fire’s some foundries.
All of this combined makes for some nasty situations like the one we have now. But im no expert
Once again, a big reason why the improved Nintendo Switch shouldn't be released, as much as it would benefit the Switch's lifecycle.
Taiwan is still going through severe drought and they are a big contributor to semiconductor manufacturing, which requires a lot of water in the process. The demand is simply too high right now that we should be more concerned about essential technology.
@BrintaPap Thanks
@Slowdive I wish I could watch it! For some reason the embedded videos don’t work on this device for this website.
@BrintaPap,
You may be no expert, but your post sounds like you have hit the proverbial nail right on it's head.
@BloodNinja as well as NDS and PSP, for that matter. Possibly Vita, too
Mate there's bags of these things in the freezer aisle at Morrisons. Microwaveable in three minutes, 60 is well off.
@ModdedInkling I would also like to add that foundries take YEARS to get up and running. Even if you had the factory already made it still takes months for it to ramp up to max production. A wrench/spanner hasn't been thrown in the works, the whole toolbox is in there.
@pixelpatch On what do you base your 4/8 analogy?
@Kieroni
I also write books and I have been looking for a small laptop/2 in 1 I can take on the road with me to do my chapters. As you said supply is tight and even used junky laptops on auction sites are going for stupid money. I found an HP stream for $199(USD) which is not really powerful but may the ticket for a durable, small laptop that is inexpensive. Reviews are mostly good but you have to use micro sd cards for extra storage. I get in a few days. Hopefully it will be a fit for my needs.
At 2:50 "each one of these pieces of equipment is maybe five million dollars", as they stand in a sea of those machines in a factory. lol. Amazing
@nhSnork Exactly, and glad someone got the joke
NINJA APPROVED
The chip shortage is affecting basically everything on the market right now. Are people only just now realizing this?
@Zidentia It was a general guideline for forced obsolescence in tech. Companies encourage people to replace tech every 2-4 years (even game console cycles refresh every 5 years with a newer console)
Obviously old tech is outperformed, but nothing has been built into our tech to allow us incremental upgrades (some companies have) such a key part replacement on laptops.
We have a "toss it and buy a new one" mentality.
4/8 is a general number, just wishing we would extend the lifecycle of some tech.
@Heavyarms55 Also it will get worse before it gets better. It might take into 2023 or 2024 before these shortages will be gone.
@BloodNinja Ah, that's a shame. Try following the link at the bottom for source, maybe it'll work for you directly on the CBS site.
@pixelpatch
The essence of your response is true but the reality is people will not pay actual prices for technology that is upgradeable as they did in the 80s and 90's. So to assuage the market tech companies use the peanut better analogy of cutting costs where they can to keep prices in check but lowering value so it appears you are getting the same deal.
@ThomasBW84 Thank you! I think it's my web browser. I use Vivaldi and I noticed some websites don't seem to be displaying imbedded video. Never had the problem on Chrome.
@WoomyNNYes great find on that video. It's a very good and concise summary of the situation I've been reading about in the tech press in the last few months. You may find the cost of the fabs even more shocking when you realise they are only productive for a few years before they become effectively obsolete. It's not just the end products that have short lifecycles.
Yes this throwaway market is now making it hard for everyone. I don't mind a used item and have bought a few things used on auction sites these past few months . And even though i did grab some great bargains , because of this chip shortage those used items are fecthing a lot more money then they would have before the pandemic .
But it also makes many realise that you don't always need to go the new route to upgrade and like me in the future many others may go the used route if they can grab a bargain.
Funny though i recently had to buy a new fridge , not because my old one was broken , it was just old and because of a new kichen going in i needed a new fridge as the old one was to large.
Now seeing that my old fridge still worked , though a bit tatty i threw it away . I was told by the guy at Currys i spoke to that my fridge for recyling wwas probably a record of the oldest fridge they have recycled. The record was 37 years old . Mine was at least 44 years old and I remember we got it second hand.
@sanderev I'd be surprised if we got over it that soon honestly. Because demand hasn't stopped going up. They need to keep adjusting the amount of expanded production facilities they are planning. Like, if they planned for the demand of 2020 and started building more facilities on those numbers, by the time they are ready it will probably still be too low.
@TSR3 Regarding factory machinery lifespan, oof! I hadn't thought that far. Yikes.
And people seriously believe a switch revision is happening despite this..
The microchip shortage is due to Russia, China and the USA mass-producing war robots in preparation for World War III. Just have a gander at the recent article on Russia Today titled "Weapons of the future: Russia has launched mass production of autonomous high-tech WAR ROBOTS, Defense Minister Shoigu announces".
@Zidentia If you just need something for writing, did you consider a tablet? Galaxy Tab S7 FE and Tab A7 Lite go on sale June for $159. And then you can get a Logitech keyboard with a built in tablet stand like the K780.
@pixelpatch nonsense. This has nothing to do planned obsolescency.
You want full upgradability? Buy a desktop. Most laptops allow you to change the memory and storage. Making a cpu or gpu upgradable just doesn't make a lot of sense technically, financially and practically. It's even worse for consoles. If if they'd make all parts upgradable, the cost to the consumer would be so high you are better off buying a new 400~500 dollar/Euro box.
But nobody is forcing you to buy new hardware. Your pc/laptop doesn't stop working after 4 years. You could easily use it for much longer. Same goes for a phone or console.
There is nothing preventing you from still playing games on a PS4 or PS3 or whatever. But do you really want to?
For a game console I think not. But a lot of computer hardware easily lasts 5+ years these days. The CPU in my main pc is nearing 8 years old but I can still play new(we) games on it because I did upgrade the gpu. For a lot of people there isn't much need to upgrade. Unfortunately people often buy crappy hardware and then complain they need something new a couple years later... Maybe people should just start buying good hardware to begin with.
Which is why releasing a “Switch Pro” doesn’t make sense right now.
@thinkhector
I hate Android. I did look at tablets and I already have a nice Bluetooth keyboard that I use with my phone but that is just more stuff to pack up.
It still amazes me shakeshead that people think all the suddenly NIN says let's make a new Switch. Has people forgotten that when you R&D you secure inventory that will become production. No company would survive doing that for long. For car companies they had these orders long in the pipe that is in there best interest but because of delays it's starting to catch up on shortages but they already had plans ahead of time. So people whom are saying they had no plans are clearly just drinking more NintenDoomed apple sauce.
@pixelpatch I totally agree. We need to do advancement differently because until we do we are robbing ourselves of true quality. If it doesn't last 10 years or more its wasting our limited time and resources.
I know electronics can't last and stay relevant forever but we must understand and remember how much power there is in building something that not only lasts but is sustainable, because that would truly be the best technology.
And its not just about longlevity either, is it even safe? If it isnt safe we won't be around to use it even if its built to last. If safety is not only a priority, but the first priority who will there be left to build more?
Also technology should never replace us or our mental capacities it is only a tool we should use to augment us in safe, required, and contained situations.
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