The Xbox Series X stock shortage may finally be over

techradar.com:

You may have noticed that more Xbox Series X stock has been available at online retailers in recent weeks, despite the ongoing global semiconductor shortage. But why is that the case?

With restocks happening far more frequently than we’ve been used to since Microsoft’s flagship console launched on November 10, 2020 – and with competitors like the PS5 still proving incredibly hard to find – many have speculated as to why Xbox Series X consoles are suddenly easier to find. 

According to Nick “Shpeshal” Baker of XboxEra(opens in new tab), the answer is pretty simple: it’s basically to do with money.

Speaking on the XboxEra podcast(opens in new tab), Shpeshal_Nick said Microsoft made a significant investment back in April of last year to prioritize chip production where Xbox Series X consoles were being produced. 

“Almost a year to the day, the 5th of April, I got a DM saying ‘Microsoft’s going to have a lot of consoles available this fall. They’re gonna have a lot.’ And they did in the end, didn’t they? Why is that? Microsoft paid for chip priority.

“Effectively, Microsoft paid for chip priority at the factories, which is why we saw and are still seeing so much more Xbox stock now,” Baker said.

Baker said the increase in Xbox Series X stock shouldn’t come as a major shock to people, considering that Microsoft managed to fill its cloud servers with Xbox Series X blades, produced a custom Halo Infinite limited edition console, and we’re still seeing stock now. This was only possible due to Microsoft’s investment back in April last year, according to Baker. 

“How do you think they pulled that off in the chip shortage? They paid for chip priority,” Baker explained. “Money was the reason. Microsoft paid, effectively, to increase their