New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS): Microsoft Xbox Series X and Series S consoles are projected to be in short supply until at least April next year.

The overwhelming number of pre-orders resulted in a limited supply of consoles available on launch day and even some early buyers will need to wait until after the holidays for their pre-orders to be fulfilled.

"I think we will continue to see supply shortages as we head into the post-holiday quarter," Xbox CFO Tim Stuart said at the Jefferies Interactive Entertainment conference on Monday.

"We are gonna have more demand than we do supply, and I will apologize in advance to people for that. I think we are gonna live in that world for a few months that we're going to have a lot more demand than we do supply," he said.

Interestingly, Xbox chief Phil Spencer tried to set expectations about short supply at the end of October.

The Xbox Series X and S supply situation could turn around early next year.

Just prior to last week's launch, Amazon sent out a wave of emails warning customers who pre-ordered Xbox Series X that they might not receive the console before Christmas.

Microsoft also announced the release of Xbox Series X and S as its biggest Xbox launch ever, though not provided any specific sales figures.

The Xbox Series X and Series S went on sale on November 10 internationally. Despite launching the middle of a global pandemic, Xbox has beaten all previous console launch records with its new systems.