This past Christmas wasn’t as merry as it could have been for many people hoping for a new next-gen console. While both the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 launched in 2020, both were in rather short supply, but hopefully shortages won’t last too long, at least for Xbox fans. Microsoft has previously said they may be able to meet Xbox Series X/S supply as soon as April of this year, and in the most recent Major Nelson podcast, Phil Spencer elaborated on where Microsoft is at in terms of console production (thanks to the folks at Video Games Chronicle for the transcription).

　　I get some people [asking], “Why didn’t you build more? Why didn’t you start earlier? Why didn’t you ship them earlier?” All of those things. […] It’s really just down to physics and engineering. We’re not holding them back, we’re building them as fast as we can. We have all the assembly lines going. I was on the phone last week with Lisa Su at AMD [asking], “How do we get more?” So, it’s something that we’re constantly working on.

　　But it’s not just us: gaming has really come into its own in 2020. Obviously, PlayStation 5 is in very tight supply. When you look at the graphics cards from AMD and NVIDIA…there’s just a lot of interest in gaming right now and console sales are just a sign of that, game sales are a sign of that and hardware is in short supply. But we’re working as hard as we can. The teams are incredibly dedicated, and I appreciate people’s patience as we work to build more.

　　I do suspect Microsoft will begin meeting the demand for Xbox Series X and S within the next six months or so. As for the PS5 – those may be scarce for a longer period of time.

　　What do you think? Planning to grab an Xbox Series X or S within the next few months? Can Microsoft get those factories turning out enough machines?