Xbox Series X May Be in Trouble as a Result of Coronavirus

The Xbox Series X may be in trouble as the result of the coronavirus and the manufacturing disruption it's causing in China, the epicenter of the outbreak. Microsoft recently warned that it's unlikely that it will meet its quarterly revenue guidance. Why? Because the PC segment of its business has been impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19. At the moment of publishing, Xbox appears to be unaffected by the outbreak -- similarly to the PS5 -- but this could change in the future if the outbreak persists or gets worse.

Fortunately for Microsoft, its Xbox business hasn't been impacted like other parts of its business, but that's because demand for the Xbox One isn't that great, and because it's already sitting on stock of the console. This doesn't apply to the Xbox Series X. Manufacturing of the console hasn't begun yet, so for now, the Xbox business isn't being impacted. However, once full scale manufacturing begins in the spring, then coronavirus could become an issue.

For now, this is all speculative, because who knows what the status of the virus will be come spring, but it appears it's only spreading and disrupting more and more markets. And let's not forget, soon Xbox will be competing with not just Sony, but other companies currently manufacturing their next line of products, like Apple.

So, what could this lead to? Well, for one, it could lead to a delay of the console's release. Meanwhile, the more likely result is that there will be shortages up front, which will be fine if there's also a shortage of PS5s. However, if the PS5 doesn't suffer shortages, this could be a huge stumbling block for the Xbox Series X. That said, both consoles are being manufactured by Foxconn, so everything here also applies to PS5. In other words, if one has shortages, the other will too.

As you may remember, scuttlebutt of coronavirus' impact on the PS5 and Xbox Series X began back in February, when Jefferies Group warned investors that the coronavirus could disrupt the launches of the two consoles.

"The video game sector is currently manufacturing, or beginning to, a once-in-several-years' product generation change for the 2020 holiday season," said Jefferies Group at the time. "If [company] shutdowns exceed a month or so, game schedules will be delayed. New consoles may likewise suffer supply issues from a prolonged disruption, ahead of their Fall 2020 planned launches."

At the moment of publishing, neither Microsoft or Sony have commented on the possible disruption of the coronavirus on their next-gen plans.