The memory component crisis threatening to delay the PS6 may not be resolved for another 10 years, according to Phison CEO Pua Khein-Seng.
The Malaysian executive would know, of course: his company is responsible for various related products, including SSDs, flash drives, and so on.
While much of the discussion has centred on the soaring prices of RAM due to unprecedented orders from AI companies, it’s also beginning to hit other types of memory, such as the types Phison manufactures.
As part of a translated interview originally conducted in Chinese, Khein-Seng suggests a number of consumer electronics companies will go out of business as a result of the “lack of memory”.
He predicts production of smartphones, televisions, and PCs will be significantly reduced. You’ve got to imagine consoles will also fit under that umbrella.
So far, Sony’s said that it has secured enough components to get it through 2026, but beyond that it’s looking like the Wild West. All of this has sparked rumours suggesting the PS6 may not make its internally intended 2027 release date anymore.
Khein-Seng used some simple maths to illustrate the problem, using Nvidia’s next-gen Rubin AI GPUs as an example. Each of these require 20TB SSDs, so shipping tens of millions of those would eat up around 20% of 2025’s global NAND production capacity.
That would leave other electronics manufacturers, like Sony, fighting for the remaining 80%, pushing prices sky-high.
The worst part about all this is that the executive doesn’t expect any kind of improvement until 2030, and he warns the shortage could last another ten years.
That means, even if you’re of the opinion Sony should delay the PS6, it could be affected way beyond what you believe to be a realistic timeline for the next-gen console.
Of course, even though this all comes from someone very much in the know, it is still a prediction. We’re going to need to wait and see how things shake out, but either way, it’s not looking good for the PS6.