After numerous delays, the fifth iteration of Sony’s gaming flagship, the PlayStation5 was finally launched last year. However, even though it has been on sale for over a year now, and the manic initial buzz has subsided, but it’s still quite difficult to get your hands on one. It’s tough to get a PS5 at Target even now. Stock drops have been a regular thing since the PS5 hit the market 12 months ago. Retailers all over the world have been receiving PS5 shipments very sporadically. That is the main reason even super stores like Target are struggling to meet the demand. In this post, we will tell you more about the PlayStation5, how you can use existing hardware with it and how to get your hand at a PS5 in Target. We will also talk about the reason behind the stock shortage and when it’s expected to normalize. Let’s get started.

Target PS5: All You Need To Know

When was the world introduced to the PS5?

Sony presented on June 11, 2020 the PlayStation 5, the next-generation console that will serve as a springboard for all games from Sony studios. It can be purchased in two models, a model with a physical game reader, and another that will only allow you to play games in digital format. It will also be accompanied by new accessories according to the futuristic design of the new console.

When was the PS5 launched?

Sony launched PlayStation 5 in Spain on November 19, 2020. With pre-orders having been weeks before, it was already sold out everywhere, and on the same launch day, it opened another wave of pre-orders that was also sold out within minutes. At the beginning of December, a new wave of reservations for Christmas made an appearance, selling out again in a few minutes. These arrived before Christmas, but since then we continue to wait for the PS5 stock to be solid today.

Which existing peripherals can be expected to continue working on a PS5?

If you have officially licensed racing wheels, arcade and flight joysticks, they will continue to work with games that are compatible with PS5 and PS4.
If you own Platinum and Gold Wireless Headsets, they will also continue to work on the PS5. Keep in mind that the headset plug in won’t work with the PS5.
PlayStation licensed DUALSHOCK 4 Wireless Controller and third-party controllers will continue to work with licensed PS4 games.
If you own official licensed VR controllers such as the PS Move motion controllers and the PlayStation VR gun controller, they will also work on the PS5 and you can use them to play licensed VR games.

Why is it so tough to get a PS5 at Target these days?

The stock of PS5 will continue to be very small. Sony has cut production of the console due to component shortages, according to a new report.

Lately, we are talking a lot about this issue, despite the fact that things have been like this for a year. PS5 is very difficult to get today and, for the moment, the situation is not going to change.

Moreover, it is possibly more difficult to get hold of Sony’s next-gen console. The company has cut PS5 production, according to a recently published report.

Is there a drop in PS5 production?

Initially, the production of PS5 until the end of March 2022 was established at around 16 million units, but it has now been known that Sony would have reduced the figure to 12 million.

A million units less is much more significant than it might seem since it perfectly exemplifies the problem that currently plagues the video game, electronics and computer industries.

Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki told investors that distribution problems and component shortages have worsened in recent months.

News sources have indicated that Sony has had no choice but to lower its production targets for PS5, despite the fact that its production partners try, day by day, to know the status of all shipments.

Is the PS5 shortage going to improve in the near future?

Everything indicates that the situation is far from improving in the coming months and is getting worse than expected.

Clearly, the lower the console production, the fewer units available on the market. It will be more difficult to get a PS5 in the future and this will translate into fewer sales for a system that had started better even than PS4, but now begins to show that shortage. Lack of machinery has made the chip crisis even more acute.

Will it have a negative impact on the development schedule for PlayStation Studios’ major works and third-party hit releases?

For the moment, it would be daring to begin to speak in a catastrophic tone and only time will tell to what extent this reduction in production causes the commercial strategy to change.

PS5 is not the only one that has seen its production reduced. The Nintendo Switch production for this fiscal year will also be affected due to the shortage of components and Xbox Series X is at a very similar point in terms of stock.

What is the current stock level of the PS5 at Target?

The COVID-19 pandemic turned just about every industry upside down and the semiconductor manufacturing industry was no exception. The demand has been very overwhelming and the semiconductor supply has seen a shortage. So, even super stores like Target have been unable to meet the incredible demand of the PS5.

Good news for PS5 fans though, the stock shortages have started becoming less frequent these days and with the Holiday Season upon us, stock shortages are supposed to end. What better time to buy a PS5 as a present than now.

According to Sony in a call to the investors in August 2021, it was expecting production of about 12 million PS5 units by March 31st, 2022. The semiconductor shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic made manufacturing all electronic devices very difficult.

Sony has been delivering the PS5 consoles at a much more rapid rate now and holiday shoppers should feel more relieved. Don’t expect Target to be inundated with PS5s yet though, the supply will be more but the incredible demand is bound to create a shortage again.

If you want an Xbox, there’s worse news for you because as per Xbox head Phil Spencer, the Microsoft owned console will continue to see shortages in supply through the early part of 2022 as well. In essence, if you want to pick up an Xbox or a PS5 at Target, you must frequently visit the store and be ready to pounce on one as soon as you see it. PS5 supply has definitely improved now, but don’t expect to see shelves overflowing with PS5s at Target yet.

Should you use an external hard drive with your PS5?

Sony’s new console triumphs in sales, although it has a storage capacity of only 825GB, yes, high speed. It is practically mandatory to use an external drive.

It goes without saying that the arrival of PS5 is one of the great releases not only of the year, but of the last five years, and that is that the PS4 generation has extended for much more than is usual in a console, and that has generated a lot of expectation before the improvements that come now.

One of these improvements is a really fast SSD on PlayStation 5, although unfortunately, its capacity does not even reach 1TB, so you will have to measure very well what storage capacity you are using at all times.

You will probably have to buy an external hard drive for the PS5 as well if you don’t already have one. Before you could use a hard drive to save and install on your PlayStation 5 those PlayStation 4 games that you wanted to continue playing, but now, with the April update, you can finally use an external hard drive to save (not run) games on PS5.

Which hard drives to get with your PS5?

Keep in mind that the speed difference between a hard drive and the console’s SSD (or any normal SSD, truth be told) is so great that it will be noticeable when push comes to shove, although if you prefer you can move it from the hard drive to the SSD the games you want to run.

With that said, here are some portable hard drives of varying capacities that we recommend adding to your PS5 order.

Toshiba Canvio Basics 1TB
Toshiba Canvio Basics 1TB
Seagate Basic 4TB
5TB WD Black P10
5TB WD Black P10
Seagate Expansion Desktop 6TB
Seagate Expansion Desktop 6TB
8TB WD My Book

So that was some crucial info on the stock shortage of PS5 across all stores in the world and when you can expect it to improve. Hopefully, you found the information useful and you can get your hand at a PS5 in Target soon.