Sub-Zero

Both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X have been announced for release at the end of this year, and early prototypes of both consoles have already been sent to developers. How far in advance of the upcoming console releases will Sony and Microsoft actually start large-scale manufacturing of the components for their upcoming consoles? Is it probable that launch consoles are already being manufactured? Thanks to anyone that replies.

Rob V

I would guess 3-4 months before... mostly to run our production issues, confirm fit & finish of the final product, stress test a production intent product, etc.

Sub-Zero

Thanks for your reply, and I also assume large-scale manufacturing does not occur until closer to launch but wanted to make sure. I assume any reports about early console production likely must refer to testing the manufacturing process itself and to have early units available to test, as you stated. Thanks again for your reply.

Michael Corvin

Remember about 9 months out from the Wii launch when word got out how basic it would be to manufacture? People/gamers thought Nintendo had been stockpiling millions of units prior to launch based on that news. How naive were we? Then launch comes around and it's a shortage day one. Good times.

K&AJones

With what's going on over in China now with that virus, it'll be interesting to see what not just happens with the new Xbox and PS5 but other in the tech industry. Flextronics made about 90% of the Xbox Ones and while they had factories all over....Hungary, Mexico, Poland, India, Malaysia, China, Brazil, USA...which some of those made the Xbox 360...some were shutdown to save costs and expanded operations in China.

The PS4 was and is made in Japan and by Foxconn in China.....and is pretty much the world's largest company that provides electronic assembly and production; Flex is the 3rd largest.

There's a lot of logistics and manufacturing planning involved...heck the motherboard parts alone probably involve 7-10 companies. AMD has probably had the CPU production going and no telling on all the chips which one hiccup in the Chip Market can cause some serious supply issues. Then of course the Hard Drives.....which alone itself is fascinating on how they are made...and they don't exactly pop those out like peanuts and potato chips. I wouldn't doubt that the training, test runs and ironing the manufacturing process has already started....

Sub-Zero

Thanks for the replies.

On the subject of console manufacturing, does anyone know if there is a reason why some console manufacturers started including the date it was manufactured on the console itself now?

Rob V

So they can track warranty issues and if it's tied to a batch of products. Almost every single part in a product will have a molded in date or code that signifies it's "batch". Way easier to quarantine issues if it is done that way.