President Joe Biden is taking action to resolve the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage – a manufacturing problem that has affected the latest game consoles, among others.
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on manufacturing has resulted in a shortage of semiconductors and other key products, affecting several industries in the US and forcing many to cut back on production.
Reuters reports that yesterday the president signed an executive order launching a 100-day supply chain review for four critical products, including semiconductor chips.
Other products included in the assessment include pharmaceuticals, rare earth minerals and large capacity batteries for electric vehicles.
The order will focus on the areas of communications technology, transportation, energy, food production, public health and defense.
But the hope is that improvements in semiconductor chip delivery will drive production of both PS5 and Xbox Series X | S can benefit, as well as high-quality PC graphics chips.
According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, US semiconductor companies account for 47% of all chip sales worldwide, but only 12% of production is processed in the US.
The president has also pledged to pursue significant investment to resolve this situation.
“I mandate senior officials in my administration to work with industry leaders to find solutions to the semiconductor shortage,” he said.
“Congress has passed a bill, but they need … $ 37 billion to make sure we have this capacity. I’ll push for it too.”
A recent report from Ampere Analysis suggested that delivery restrictions have prevented both new PlayStation and Xbox consoles from surpassing the launch sales of their predecessors.
Following Microsoft’s most recent financial results, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said the company expects Xbox sales to be “still constrained by supply” in the first quarter of 2021.