Sony surprised everyone earlier this month by starting to talk about the capabilities of the PlayStation 5. Now we're being told when it won't, rather then when it will launch.

As The Verge reports, Sony is holding Q&A sessions with reporters and giving out a few new details here and there. The Wall Street Journal tech reporter Takashi Mochizuki is one of them and he tweeted confirmation that the PlayStation 5 will not be launching within the next 12 months.

Sony:
-No next-gen PlayStation launch over next 12 months
-PS Now has been ave. 40% annual growth since launch, now 700,000 users
-Much of Y31.1 billion (difference between past fy op vs this fy op outlook) to be invested to develop next PlayStation console — Takashi Mochizuki (@mochi_wsj) April 26, 2019

As that information comes directly from Sony, we now know the PS5 won't appear before May 2020. Sony also has a history of launching new games consoles in November, with the PS4 launching on Nov. 15, 2013 and the PS3 launching on Nov. 11, 2006. So it seems likely we'll see the PS5 launch at some point around the middle of November 2020.

PS5 lead architect Mark Cerny revealed the first details of what to expect from the new console a couple of weeks ago. The PS5 will be able to handle 8K graphics, offers a much-improved 3D audio experience, and backwards compatibility with the PS4. Most surprising of all though, was confirmation the PS5 will use an SSD to ensure much faster load times, but also to enhance games which would otherwise be compromised by the data transfer limits of a mechanical drive.

I doubt we'll hear much more about the PS5 in terms of specific hardware details until next year and for E3 the focus will return to the PS4. However, Sony isn't holding a press conference at this year's event, but there's sure to be a big PS4 push from other publishers.