Sony appears to have registered a new PS5 model in Japan

Sony Interactive Entertainment appears to have registered a new PlayStation 5 model in Japan.

In April, the company received construction design certification for what looks to be a new ‘CFI-1200’ series model featuring updated radio equipment.

The product was granted design certification by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which ensures that radio and wireless communication equipment conforms to certain technical standards.

PS5 launch hardware uses a CFI-1XXX model numbering scheme, while revised hardware released in 2021 uses a CFI-11XX scheme.

Last May it was reported that Sony would start production on a PS5 redesign in 2022, which would feature a “new semi-customised” 6nm CPU from AMD.

Taiwanese business website DigiTimes claimed that suppliers including semiconductor foundry TSMC were planning to start producing the redesigned PS5 console between the second and third quarters of this year.

Last year’s redesigned PS5 was purely components-focused and didn’t feature any significant external changes. This may be the case again with the new CFI-1200 series.

Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki said last year that the company was considering various solutions to help it cope with the global shortage of hardware components, including potentially altering designs or sourcing secondary suppliers.

The topic was brought up again during a Sony financial results Q&A session this week. During the event, Totoki was asked what measures Sony is taking to combat semiconductor shortages, which Intel recently warned will now likely last until 2024.

While Totoki’s response didn’t specifically reference PS5, he said (transcribed by VGC) that “in different areas… we have changed our source of procurement and also changed our design amongst others. So, we have been capable of coping. So, for the parts procurement, I think that we have a good outlook”.

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Sony expects to ship 56% more PS5s this year, and claims ‘demand is higher than that’

The platform holder missed its sales target last fiscal year, citing parts shortages

Sony announced on Tuesday that it shipped 11.5 million PS5 consoles during its financial year ended in March 2022, missing out on its initial target of 14.8 million consoles by over three million units, which it said was due to parts shortages.

However, the company said it expects to sell significantly more PS5 consoles during its current fiscal year ending in March 2023, at around 18 million units.

“18 million units is what we feel very comfortable we can get the parts and components for [during FY22],” Totoki said.

“We feel that there is a little bit higher demand than that, so if the question is if we can meet the demand, I think we’re still short somewhat.”