Xbox Series X could be in short supply until April or later, Microsoft says, as PS5 date nears

(Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Xbox UK)

The Xbox Series X and S might not be widely available until at least April, Microsoft has admitted.

Just as with the PlayStation 5, the new Xbox has been hit by extreme stock shortages that have made just being able to buy one a feat, with pre-orders selling out almost instantly and an intense rush to any retailer that says it may have stock.

Now Microsoft has admitted those problems could continue well into the next year, and that it would be aiming to increase supply over the next six months.

The remarks came from Tim Stuart, the chief financial officer of Xbox, during a conference call with analysts who asked about the stock problems with the new console. The full call is transcribed online.

Mr Stuart suggested that the problems were as a result of the high demand for the console, partly as a result of the fact “gaming is just exploding”.

He said that the shortages were likely to continue well past the holiday season, and into the first quarter or 2020. As the next quarter arrives, the company will be able to “go full speed” ahead of the summer, Mr Stuart said.

“And that's where I start to – I expect to see a little bit of the demand – the supply profile, meeting the demand profile,” he said, according to the remarks transcribed by Seeking Alpha.

“You'll be outside of a holiday window. We'll have supply cranking over the next, what, 4, 5, 6 months. And that's when I expect to see really that demand profile start to be met, which will be really, really great.”

The Xbox was released worldwide on 10 November, but few were able to actually buy the console on that date, with most of the stock being snapped up in pre-orders.

The PS5 arrived in some countries two days later and was met with a similar response, and that is likely to happen once again when it is released in other countries on 19 November.

Sony has given less explicit guidance around then when its PlayStation 5 might be widely available. But it seems to be struggling with the same stock shortages, and was forced to apologise to customers after pre-orders opened, admitting that the process had been overly difficult.