Sony says PS3 supply will be 'tight' over the coming months
By Donald Melanson 
posted February 12th 2010 7:02PM
posted February 12th 2010 7:02PM
We're guessing things won't quite rise to the level of shortages since during the Wii's heyday, but it looks like Sony is now sending a small word of caution to any potential PlayStation 3 buyers. As Joystiq reports, Sony's senior director of corporate communications, Patrick Seybold, says that while the company is working hard to meet consumer interest, "demand is tremendously high for the PS3 and we expect tight inventory in the coming months." As you'll recall, this follows some surprisingly strong sales for the PS3 during the holiday season (when it outsold the Xbox 360), although console sales in general expectedly slowed considerably down in January. As with Joystiq, we haven't yet heard any first-hand reports of the PS3 being hard to find at retail, but feel free to let us know in comments if you're running across any local shortages.
hmm... ps3 shortage? sounds like the reason for some great revolt
I bought my PS3 250GB just because Criterion said that it was their reference Blu-Ray player.
.
They're probably gonna release PlayStation 3-D this fall.
.
@Meekermoloko
or if you'd read the post about um, 2 days ago, that's coming in a firmware update in the summer.
back to the post: just my luck, a week ago i decided i'd buy a ps3 within the next few months.
@Meekermoloko
You never know, though.
I find the complaints that the PS3's 3d will be comprimised to be FUD or at least based on nonsense, but perhaps there is an HDMI 1.4 + ARC PS3 coming.
Maybe PS2 backwards compat. is coming back (OK, that ain't it). Something big could be coming. If Sony plays their Arc and 3D cards right, they will flip this console war on its head, or at least make some money.
@DaveDS
Yes, I already read the post about a firmware update for current systems this Summer.
What does that have to do with a PlayStation 3-D coming this fall?
The system could be updated already and come with 3-D glasses in a bundle.
sounds like great marketing.
like the "low stock, get yours now" Wii thing.
@BrianH they don't seem to be kidding. maybe it was the festive season, but i had to go to literally ten stores in london to get it. finally found one store with a single piece remaining.
@BrianH
maybe it is the Chinese new year thing.
@BrianH Yeah, except for the Wii sucked even back then
@BrianH funny how this comes right after Nintendo's announcement that the Wii is scarce due to lower production numbers.
Because as we all do, when you go to a store and can't find what you were looking for, you buy the more expensive replacement.
I had no idea they were in short supply. I should go out and buy one right now!!
@phyisicsmajor21
This. It's like Circular reasoning, only in marketing form.
Self-fulfilling prophecy!
Well I couldn't find one at best buy or walmart. Even kmart was out!!
@Themadone The Kmart I work at has been out of stock for the past three weeks! When we do get a couple in, they're sold almost immediately.
@raz4life Well that sux for me.....
@lcchoops Funny.
masterful press release designed to attract media interest - totally worked. well done.
PS3s are awesome.
@SilverSurfer Grammar fail are not awesome.
@lcchoops Are you stupid or somethin'?
Hmmm, Sony, having Cell yield problems again?
@HookEmHorns
That kind of thing is always a possiblity. It amazes me that MS would release a console they knew would fail a substantial part of the time. It's insane.
If Sony is having a hard time stocking shelves because of Cell yield (this is unlikely at this point), then that means they aren't selling broken consoles like MS did.
This isn't meant to be fanboi... the 360 is kickass now and reliable. But the philosophy of rush rush rush really damaged the xbox brand.
@(Unverified)
Yes I agree, my friends call me all the time telling me their 360 just got the RROD and its out of warranty (or warranty voided cause they modded it) and want me to fix it.
I've never seen the newer ones (Jasper) RROD, they finally fixed the issue with a second wave of die shrinks (GPU 90nm -> 80nm -> 65nm).
With MS is was never a yield problem, it was inadequate cooling of the GPU causing the board to warp, causing the BGA solder connections to crack (since everything uses crappy brittle lead-free solder these days). Die shrink of the GPU fixed the cooling problem.
Shortage? High st retailers, no, it's in every store window I have been, but online, maybe, you can only purchase 1 per household, such as amazon.
I just went to gamestop asking about ps3s and the guy they are in shortage because sony is rebuilding the slims due them failing more than launch models..he said they have been trying to keep it hush hush for the past month. Whether it's true or not I don't know..just passing it along.
@plbelanger It's probably a lie, the workers at the Gamestop near me outright lied to me to get me to buy a 360. Obviously I never went there again.
@plbelanger
That's just fud.
the Slim is more reliable than the fatty.
@(Unverified) He didn't come across that way..I go there all the time and he's a genuine sony fan..rants on and on about ps3 exclusives. Didn't try to sell me anything..already knows I have a 360.
@plbelanger
You're just passing along what you heard. Right? And so was he. It's still FUD, even though that's how viral marketing works. Get people asking questions and all that. Sadly, a major facet of marketing today. Just because you heard from a good person doesn't mean they aren't repeating myths.
The PS3 has a pretty darn low failure rate. I work in the field and it's going from low to lower.
@plbelanger
I'm sure if they were out of PS3's, he had a 360 to sell you that went along with that story...
@plbelanger
The last person I would turn to for any information on anything would be a Gamestop employee. Hell the only time they are even aware of a release date is when it is plastered on every poster in the store.
@mykalt45 ty bro ty
@swanle that sounds about right
@swanle It gives the fanboys another thing to stick to.
I see filling up the EB Games window, and they had 10 of every flavour at walmart... Not running out in Toronto.
Yeah, been hard to find a 120GB anywhere. I think the 250GB is in stock in a few places, but no one really wants that one. Maybe if they threw in the official headset for the same money, £269, it would be worth it, but with the 120GB going for around £225 in a lot of places it's a lot better value.
Ha Ha nice spin Sony. There is going to be shortages because of Chinese New Year. The factories shut down or slow production during that time. Don't believe me look at the Palm Pre press release. They too will have shortages of stock..At least Palm explains why!
@swanle that's one possibility. I must admit, the xbox lineup this year is impressive to say the least. And Halo Reach is something incredible in itself. Just saw some gameplay footage released today..that game will move some hardware.
...
Tight supply?
... So uh, how about those 10 PS3s at my local wal*mart that are getting dusty, huh?
@lcchoops
Is pretty funny, i too known a lot of people that own a xbox360 but there are a lot more that own a wii than xbox360 + ps3 altogether.
May be, xbox360 users are more noise/annoying then they are more visible.
No joke. Best Buy stores in the SE have been extremely short on these things for the past month.
I'm talking like 5 in a months time for a store.
This correlates well to the news that both Wii and 360 beat PS3 in US sales in January 2010.
Wii: 465,800
DS: 422,200
360: 332,800
PS3: 276,900
PSP: 100,100
PS2: 41,600
@(Unverified) I wish us Americans would realize that the U.S =\= world.
Yes, there are countries that exists outside the U.S.
@Acqua206
Who says I'm American? I was born in Turkey.
I wish you Americans would stop assuming that everyone is an American...
@Batmantis Silly, Turkey is a bird. "Signed by a Stupid American"
sounds like a business tactic to get people to buy more ps3's to me.
that's what she said
@ Sony says PS3 supply will be 'tight'
But they said that last year.