Microsoft and Sony are having trouble keeping up with demand for their Xbox One X and PlayStation 5 consoles. While Sony intends to maintain producing the PlayStation 4 for the foreseeable being to make up for its current-gen console shortage, the Xbox One is no longer in production.


In July 2020, we learnt that Microsoft had canceled the Xbox One X and Xbox One S Digital Editions. Now it's been revealed that the Xbox One S was also discreetly discontinued at the end of that year. "We ceased manufacture for all Xbox One consoles by the end of 2020 to focus on the Xbox Series X/S," Xbox's senior director of console product marketing Cindy Walker told The Verge.

The technique appears to have worked. Microsoft's Phil Spencer told The New York Times this week that the Series X and Series S have sold more units at this stage in their lifecycle than any prior Xbox generation, though he didn't provide specific sales data. Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad estimates that Series X/S shipments will exceed 12 million units.

While the more powerful Series X usually sells out minutes after the stock drops (it doesn't help that scalpers are using bots to buy them), the Series S isn't difficult to get at this time. It's currently on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, and Walmart in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Given that the Series S can do almost everything the Xbox One can — except play CDs — Microsoft's decision to keep making the Xbox One makes little sense.

Sony has a slightly different story. The only difference between the two PS5 variants is the disc drive. Given the overwhelming demand (Sony had sold 13.4 million devices by October 2021) and the ongoing supply chain crisis, getting one of those consoles is currently more difficult than getting a Series S. As a result, after purportedly planning to phase down the PS4 last year, Sony informed Bloomberg on Wednesday that it will continue to produce the console in 2022 (albeit using less advanced components than the PS5). This year, the business is expected to produce approximately a million PS4 consoles.

Sony previously stated that the PS4 would be supported until 2024. Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7, and God of War Ragnarök are among the first-party exclusives coming to both current-gen and previous-gen platforms this year.