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Microsoft starts shipping Surface Pro again, says more coming to market 'quickly'
Microsoft's trying to address the recent shortfall of Surface Pro models, and has vowed via its Surface Pro blog to get more into the market "as quickly as we can." As such, it's begun dispatching 64GB SKUs to Best Buy, Staples and its own Microsoft Store in the US, with Canada to follow in a few days. 128GB SKUs will ship "later this week" to retailers, according to Redmond, "with some units available by the end of the week." All flavors of the tablet-cum-laptop disappeared from shelves shortly after they arrived in retail stores and online, both stateside and north of the border. The company said it'll fulfill orders for customers who made a reservation first, but that your local retailer "should have (stock) soon," too.
Microsoft sells out of 128GB Surface Pro models online and in some stores
If you were wondering how well the public would take to a Microsoft-made tablet costing $899 or more... quite well, at least from initial impressions. The 128GB Surface Pro has sold out at Microsoft's US online store, and checks suggest a lack of stock at both the company's retail stores as well as Best Buy and Staples. Canada is facing similar shortages at Best Buy and Future Shop. Not surprisingly, storage worries (since partly alleviated) have left the 64GB tablet as the only one in consistent supply, and we suspect that the 128GB model in Microsoft's Canadian store won't last for much longer. We'd be cautious before declaring the Surface Pro a runaway hit, however -- there's no word on how many units each store had, and Microsoft has refrained from reporting Surface sale numbers to date. Still, the early uptake is good news for Microsoft's first foray into designing an x86 PC, and it shows that many early adopters aren't hung up on the price.
iPhone 5 supply runs short in India
The iPhone 5 officially launched in India last Friday, and just a day later, stores were selling out of their stock. Don't get too excited. Indian sources note only about 15,000 phones were made available for that market, so a sellout isn't too surprising. There were about 100,000 phones made available to India in the first month. An additional 200,000 are expected to arrive by the end of December. Those numbers aren't huge (I'd guess that several North American stores will sell as many in the same time period), but the point here is that demand is high around the world. The iPhone 5 isn't cheap in India. In addition to service and shipment fees, India's currency also plays a factor. The low-end 16 GB iPhone sells for 45,500 rupees, or about US$833 (as of this writing). When you combine those prices with the fact that these phones did sell out, there's a really big indicator of why Apple is so interested to get sales rolling overseas, and why it expects places like India and China both to be such big markets in the future.
Sports Fans Coalition intends to lobby against NFL blackouts
We know how it is, you have a big HDTV and inexpensive adult beverages at home and you just don't feel compelled to spend the bucks to go to the game in these tough economic times. We feel for you, but the NFL does not as your situation doesn't exactly pay all those player's salaries. Well, starting this Friday the Sports Fans Coalition, along with other organizations, plans to petition the FCC for change to the current blackout rule. The groups argue that since many of the stadiums are built with public funds, Joe Consumer has the right to watch those games at home. As is, we're mostly just glad the old NFL blackout policy, prior to 1973 that made all home games unavailable to the home market, isn't still in effect. Of course that doesn't mean that we believe the current blackout policy actually helps sell those $100+ tickets and believe the NFL might realize more profits if it sought out more modern supplemental revenue strategies.
Samsung says Galaxy Tab sales to consumers actually 'quite small' [update: misquote!]
When is a tablet sold not actually a tablet sold? When it's a Galaxy Tab, apparently. As The Wall Street Journal reports, those two million Galaxy Tabs that Samsung reported it had "sold" in the fourth quarter of last year were apparently not actual sales to consumers, but simply sales to distributors (which is a different matter altogether). Even more surprisingly, Samsung's Lee Young-hee further explained on an earnings call on Friday that so-called "sell-out" sales to customers were actually "quite small," but she wouldn't provide a specific number. Somewhat confusingly, however, she also later noted that while "sell-out wasn't as fast as we expected," Samsung still believes that sales to consumers were "quite OK," and that it is "quite optimistic" about 2011. Update: As it turns out this was a misquote, and sales are actually "quite smooth." Full details here.
Pixel Qi dual-mode displays sell out, in a good way
Unless you're in the music biz, selling out is generally considered a good thing just as long as you can restock, pronto like, to meet consumer demand. So we're sure Mary Lou Jepsen is roiling in her jollies knowing that the first batch of $275 dual-mode Pixel Qi displays have sold out after less than 24 hours of retail availability. You can pre-order now for a second shipment of the 10.1-inch reflective LCDs expected to arrive on MakerShed by the middle of next week. Until then, we patiently wait for the first-hand DIY experiences to begin trickling in.
Apple iPhone 4 pre-orders now sold out?
We have no idea how this happened given the insane problems Apple and AT&T have had processing iPhone 4 pre-orders today, but lots of people (including us) are seeing a July 2 ship date at Apple's online store, or about a week after the next-gen iPhone launches on June 24. Frankly, that's amazing -- we can only imagine the kind of sustained rush it took to cause a sellout of a product virtually no one was actually able to order. So that's Apple and AT&T both sold out -- at this point it's looking like standing in line somewhere come launch day is going to be your best bet, but we'll let you know if we hear any better news. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
PS3 and Wii shortages challenged GameStop's Q1
Speaking during today's GameStop quarterly earnings call, COO Paul Raines addressed the issue of hardware shortages during the retailer's first quarter (February–April). "Supply on hardware was a continuing challenge this quarter," Raines explained, "as on an average daily basis, our U.S. stores were out of stock for the PS3 for 80 percent of the time and were out of stock for Wii 50 percent of the time." We recently contacted SCEA Director of Hardware Marketing John Koller about the PS3's scarcity, and he responded, "Consumer demand remains incredibly high and PS3 supply will continue to be tight across our retail channels. Despite current shortages in the market, we expect to improve the situation shortly." We've yet to hear any word from Nintendo on the reported Wii shortages, but we assume it has something do with the fact that the console is crafted primarily out of crude oil and unobtainum alloys.
Zune HD a major sellout?
Let it be known: we liked the Zune HD before it was popular, before all the poseurs jumped on the bandwagon with their tight-fitting jeans and their hairstyles. If various stores on the internet are to be believed, the Zune HD is selling out in a pretty big way. Amazon is listing a 1-2 month wait for the 16GB model and a 1-3 week wait for the 32GB, Best Buy has the player listed as "backordered," and New Egg shows "sold out." Microsoft's own store doesn't seem to be having these stocking problems, but we suppose that's to be expected. How about you, are you being kept from the Zune HD your heart desires? How does this make you feel? [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Xbox 360 Pro 60GB for $230 during Woot Sellout
While it's no guarantee that a retail price drop is coming, seeing an Xbox 360 Pro selling for just $230 (plus $5 shipping) during a Woot Sellout certainly piles-on the evidence. The Woot model is your typical 60GB Pro (rumored to have reached end-of-life) with HDMI-out, wireless controller, headset, and component AV cable. However, instead of carrying a $300 price it costs about $70 less than your nearest brick-and-mortar will charge. The best deal you'll find until the rumored price cuts get official. So what's it going to be, slim, pull the trigger or wait?[Thanks, Joshua W.]
Windows 7 pre-orders sell-out in Japan
Often companies will claim a "sellout" in order to hype incredible demand for its product. However, these claims are pointless without any firm numbers -- after all, there's a big difference between moving 100 and 100,000 units. Now we're getting word from Japan that the heavily discounted Windows 7 upgrades that went up for pre-order on Friday are sold-out. While no numbers are given, the 17 retailers involved in the pre-order sales, who presumably have no vested interest in trying to inflate perceptions on behalf of Microsoft, report sales as "considerable" and taking only 1.5 days (of the 10 days planned) to burn though the alloted inventory. A quick check on Amazon US and Canada shows the same pre-order prices we saw Friday. Still, it might be wise to take notice of the "while supplies last" disclaimer if you haven't already.Update: Engadget Japanese tells us that the 30,000 copies were sold according to Microsoft.
$131k Softbank 823SH Tiffany handset sells out in three days
Recession? What recession? While many in this world are grumbling about a so-called weakened economy, at least eight individuals aren't hurtin' at all. Or, at least they aren't acting like it. The (very) limited edition Softbank 823SH Tiffany, which was offered up for ¥13 million, has sold out in just three days, proving once again that there is simply nothing too expensive for at least some folks to buy. [Via textually]
Nintendo moves over 170,000 DSi handhelds at Japanese launch
Nah, Nintendo didn't move as many DSi handhelds in Japan as it did DS units in America last Thanksgiving, but hey, the week's not over yet. Even in the midst of an economic slowdown, the Big N managed to sell through 170,779 DSis during the first two days of its Japanese launch. Many outlets had just enough stock to appease those that pre-ordered, and small queues were present in a variety of locales. That's a number that Nintendo's surely proud of, particularly since total Japanese sales of the original DS and the DS Lite stood at 23.6 million at the end of October, or about one DS for every fifth person in the nation. Who says a sleek redesign can't rekindle interest?
The final days of Ziff Davis games according to Folio
Folio Magazine, a magazine about the magazine industry, has as their cover story for May "Ziff's Last Stand." An in-depth look at how the once great magazine empire is falling apart like a leper. Sure, it's still functional, but it isn't looking too pretty anymore. It's no secret that the games division has been up for sale with no buyers. The article lays out in no uncertain terms that the relevance of game magazines is on the decline and uses Ziff Davis' issues as the poster-child of the future to come.The prime example Folio uses is a scuffle between Edelman (a major PR firm) and an editor of PC Magazine. The battle concerned Senior VP at Edelman, Steve Rubell, publicly stating that he throws out his free subscription to the magazine. For any gaming media, when the PR guys stop reading your stuff, you can kiss access, interviews, information and general livelihood goodbye. And, in what really is the cherry on this story, the whole thing played out online.According to the article, buyers of the ZD game division are actually interested in 1UP, the company's online portal and its 13 million monthly visitors. 1UP currently competes against Gamespot and IGN's 20 million monthly visitors. The path sounds pretty solid at this point. The magazines will continue to lose readers and relevance and, if the staff survives, will probably be transferred to online. [Via GameSetWatch]
The numbers are in
It's been over a week, folks, and Nintendo has issued the first of many self-congratulatory press releases concerning the Wii. Eight days after launch, the Wii has sold more than 600,000 units in North America. Furthermore, their flagship title The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has sold 454,000 copies, achieving a rather ridiculous 75.67% attach rate to the console itself. Nintendo seems to be holding fast to their claim to ship four million units worldwide by year's end, and many expect the company to deliver close to 200,000 units weekly to North American outlets. Not quite enough, though, is it?On the eBay front, 27,000 Wii units have been sold in auction at an average price of $412.53. For comparison, only 15,000 PS3 units were sold (at an average price of $1186.39). Take that, PS3 eBay people! Well, we suppose an average profit of around $500.00 after shipping and tax isn't too bad. The Wii is still very much one of the hottest items of the holiday season, and sell-outs should be expected at least through the end of the holiday season. Good luck, Wii-goers!
$100 Xbox 360 sold out in seconds
As part of Amazon's Customers Vote internet deals, the Xbox 360 Core package won the people's vote and the right to go on sale. So, this morning you could buy a core system for only $100! The big news is that once the time came to purchase a 360 for such a low, low price at Amazon.com, customers came away empty handed as this deal ended within' seconds! Only 1,000 Xbox 360 Core systems were available for this offer, so it's not all that surprising that a sellout occured, but fanboys have been reporting that 2-3 seconds after the offer became available they couldn't complete an order because the deal was already sold out. If you were lucky enough to get a Xbox 360 Core system for $100 then you get a gold star for today buddy ... if not, at least you tried and didn't have to stand outside for 6+ hours in the cold only to be disappointed.[Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]
Wii pre-orders snapped up on Amazon
On September 15th, Amazon began taking preorders for the Wii ... and on September 15th, Amazon stopped taking preorders for the Wii. No, Nintendo didn't announce manufacturing troubles or delays. They didn't move the release date back. There was no crisis reported.They simply sold out. Analysts, both armchair and professional, have been all over the place when it comes to the Wii since the revolutionary new console was first announced. Predictions have ranged to impossibly enthusiastic to cautiously optimistic ... and down to those who swore the concept was too gimmicky and the Wii would fail. Even fans reacted to the recent announcements of price points and world launch dates in a somewhat lukewarm fashion, and even so, people are still rabid to ensure they'll get a copy of the system on launch day. Wiiii! Here's to the "underdog." Looks like Nintendo is moving up in the world.
HD DVD sells out in Japan
...all 1500 units. We're not sure whether to check the W or L column for that one, but Toshiba seems encouraged. Although reports previously indicated Toshiba shipped 10,000 players to the U.S., this one says only 5,000 were released with 6,000 more to follow "soon".Also interesting is that in the Japanese market, the availability of recorders is considered to be much more key than only playback devices. Toshiba's are expected by June in Japan while Blu-ray has not announced a release date yet.[Via Digital World Tokyo]
