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Sony: PS3 retail shortages have been 'resolved'
According to a statement issued by Sony yesterday alongside the publication of the NPD Group's June sales report, the PS3 shortages cited by GameStop in its Q1 earnings report have been "resolved." No explanation for the resolution was given in said statement, though we imagine it has something to do with making more consoles and delivering them to stores at a faster pace. Perhaps this particular resolution had something to do with the PS3's 97 percent rise in sales during the month of June. Then again, every piece of gaming hardware saw pretty significant increases in sales last month. Was everyone experiencing a recently resolved shortage? We're super glad we stocked up early.
EVO 4G shortages may hurt 4G adoption, Sprint gives customers in seven new cities the chance to be disappointed
It looks like Sprint's head start in the 4G service race may not be quite as big as the carrier would like. According to the Wall Street Journal, HTC EVO 4G handset shortages are mitigating whatever advantage the company should have, being first out of the gate with the technology. "The early move to 4G has benefited Sprint from a marketing perspective, but it hasn't really proven out in a major way in subscriber growth," said Dan Hays, an analyst for PRTM. Good news, perhaps, for both AT&T and Verizon, who looks to take its first, tentative steps into some markets later this year. In other news, Sprint has announced a handful of 4G rollouts, including such far-flung locales as Rochester and Syracuse, New York; Merced and Visalia, California; Eugene, Oregon; Tri-Cities and Yakima, Washington. Hopefully HTC can start providing the necessary handsets! PR after the break. [Thanks, Vaha]
Verizon sends letter, $25 gift card to patient Droid Incredible buyers
Still haven't received your HTC Droid Incredible due to that AMOLED shortage? Then it looks like you'll soon be hearing from Verizon, if you haven't already. Android Central reports that the carrier has begun sending letters to all customers still waiting for their phones that apologizes for delay, and informs them that they'll soon also be receiving a $25 Verizon gift card as a little thank you for their patience. As for when you'll actually receive the phone itself, however, Verizon is only saying that if your order date was June 28th or prior, you "may experience an additional delay of up to 7 business days." [Thanks, Jacob]
Motorola selling Droids faster than it can make them, has up to four videophones in pipeline
In case you're not yet convinced that video chat is the next big thing phone makers are going to push on us, let Motorola's Sanjay Jha enlighten you. Having just launched the video-centric Motorola XT720 in Europe (sans a front-facing camera), Jha is promising that his crew will deliver between two and four handsets this year with the equipment necessary to carry out video calls. Funnily enough, Moto's co-CEO describes himself as someone who's "never been a great believer" in the functionality, but clearly his company's seeing a trend it feels the need to be a part of. Speaking of trends, Moto has also fallen afoul of supply shortages similar to those constraining Droid Incredible inventory, with Jha saying about the Moto Droid, "if I could build more, I'd sell more." And if you could get Android 2.2 on them, you'd have some really happy customers too.
Smallest Macs in short supply, mini update imminent?
If you're looking to pick up a Mac mini for Father's Day, you might want to consider a nice fishing rod instead. AppleInsider notes extremely constrained supplies of the diminutive white computer, and reports that several bulk purchasers and education buyers have had their orders pushed back to June 14, or been told to simply get the minimum number of units they need to get through the next couple of weeks. What might we see in a refreshed mini? The AI post suggests the possibility of an HDMI port added to the machine, which would certainly make things interesting for the seemingly soon-to-be-replaced 'classic' Apple TV. If you've tried and failed to buy a mini in the past week or two, let us know!
Rockstar hopes to solve Red Dead Redemption UK shortage by this weekend
Our poor, transatlantic pals living in the UK have been wracked with a pretty significant retail shortage of Rockstar's latest open-world opus, Red Dead Redemption. Fortunately, Rockstar Games UK boss Neil Stephen (the man so nice, they named him twice) has told VG247 that Take-Two has been working with UK retail outlets to remedy the supply issues, stating, "we believe the situation should be resolved by this weekend, so we'd like to thank everyone involved for their part in this." We're guessing Rockstar's solution to the shortages was to locate the rumored sunken cargo ship which dragged a few crates of the game to the bottom of the briny deep. If that's the case, we hope UK gamers enjoy finally getting their hands on copies of the game, and all of the barnacles therein.
Droid Incredible confirmed to be suffering from AMOLED shortage
Being completely unable to keep a popular device in stock is a great problem to have, we suppose -- but considering that Verizon Wireless' Lowell McAdam believes he could sell "twice" the number of Droid Incredibles that he has available, that's got to be a bit of a bummer if you're one of the company's bean counters (or a would-be buyer, for that matter). In a talk at a Barclays Capital conference today, McAdam made it clear that component shortages were to blame for the high-end Android handset's general unavailability -- specifically the Samsung-sourced AMOLED display, which is seeing duty in more phones all the time and will likely be in short supply for a while yet. At the present, new buyers need to wait until at least mid-June to get their Droid Incredible if they order online, and the Nexus One's brief inventory situation is very likely related; since Samsung is using a ton of AMOLED displays in its own devices, doesn't this all seem like a conflict of interest?
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.
Dateline NYC: Desperately seeking iPad
What's harder to find than a cheap apartment in Manhattan or a table at Per Se? According to Silicon Alley Insider, it's the iPad. The great slate will make you wait; it may be magical and/or revolutionary but it isn't to be found anywhere in the tri-state area (that's New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, in this particular case). Combine the in-store shortages with a 7-10 day delivery lag on online orders, and you can see why this is either really good news ("Apple is selling iPads as fast as it can make them!") or really bad news ("Apple can't make enough iPads, something is wrong with the production process!"). How you see the current crunch largely depends on whether you are an iGlass half-full or half-empty kind of person. Have you been searching in vain for your iPad? Let us know in the comments.
Intel Arrandale shortages leading to premium prices, potential product delays
Now this might explain Apple's curious choice to not upgrade the 13-inch MacBook Pro to a Core 2010 CPU. Yahoo! News is reporting shortages of the more budget-minded Core i3 and i5 laptop processors launched by Intel this January, which has led to chip buyers outbidding each other to the point of paying 20 percent premiums on contract prices. That's according to US chip distributor Converge, while research firm CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets estimates that product rollouts could be delayed by up to three months as a result. What has Intel got to say for itself? "We don't comment on speculation, what I can say is that we are pleased with the strong product demand for our laptop platforms." Well sure, you get paid more on a per-CPU basis, why wouldn't you be pleased? On a more serious note, during Intel's latest earnings call both Paul Otellini and CFO Stacy Smith expressed their surprise at the vast demand for their 32nm products, with Smith noting that their production of 32nm chips is the fastest ramping process in the company's history. So there's not really any villainy afoot here, just good old demand catching supply napping.
Sony says PS3 supply will be 'tight' over the coming months
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.
Nintendo: Replenishing Wii supply will be a 'challenge'
Nintendo has responded to Joystiq's inquiry into the current Wii supply issues, with Nintendo of America's Senior Director of Corporate Communications Charlie Scibetta telling us, "In the short term, replenishing Wii inventories will be a challenge." He continues, "But we are doing everything we can to satisfy consumers looking to purchase a Wii system." Analysts have already pointed out that Nintendo's console sales, despite being record-breaking, could have been stronger had there been more Wii to go around. What makes this situation even stranger is the report from early December that Nintendo actually reduced Wii production going into the holiday. For the astounding amount of success the Wii has brought Nintendo, there appears to be some serious cognitive dissonance between how much the company thinks it should produce of the console and the actual demand.
Retailers still receiving Wiis, demand outpacing slowed supply
There's no question: retail has a serious lack of Wiis, once again. Yes, this is 2010, but you wouldn't be wrong in thinking it feels more like 2008. Following up on several tips over the past month about online and retail Wii "shortages," the best we can discover is that supply is still coming in to retailers, but that demand is exceeding it -- it's that same old Wii song we've heard for years. "We're still getting [Wii] in, but it's just slow. We've tried getting more from other stores in our district, but we're just selling out too fast," a Best Buy employee told Joystiq. One GameStop manager claimed this supply issue happens every year after Christmas and estimated things will get better in mid-February. Other retailers echoed: supply is still coming in, but selling out fast. Online stores, like Amazon and NewEgg, aren't faring any better. We've requested comment from Nintendo a couple times on this issue, but the House of Mario is staying mum. We've also requested official comment from all the major retailers, but have not received a response. If you know someone looking for a Wii, the best we can do is repeat the same advice we've been giving for years: just keep calling your local retailer and ask when it'll receive more stock.
Component shortages lead analysts to forecast rise in prices of personal electronics
As you might well know, we're not the biggest fans of analyst blather, but this piece of research by Gartner is backed by some substantial numbers. The FT reports that DRAM prices have recently risen by 23 percent, followed closely by LCD prices with a 20 percent jump, both in response to the financial crisis the whole globe seems to be suffering from. Because the effects of recently renewed investment in capacity building won't be felt for a while, we're told to prepare for higher prices throughout this year -- a significant combo breaker from the previous decade's average of around 7.8 percent drops. Oh well, let's just cling to the encouraging signs for the future and ignore this bump on the road to gadget nirvana. [Thanks, Ben W]
Borderlands shortages reported, Gearbox responds
digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/21/borderlands-shortages-reported-gearbox-responds/'; It looks like Borderlands, well-received by critics, is having trouble getting received at all by some potential purchasers, with retail shortages being reported in the US. Canada is also dealing with supply issues, possibly as the result of the game's $40 price tag in the region. Gearbox's Steve Gibson has contacted Joystiq regarding the matter, noting that the shortage is mostly limited to the Xbox 360 version, particularly on the east coast. Gibson states that Gearbox is "working with production and distribution at ramping up to catch up with demand," adding that fresh copies should hit "as early as Thursday or Friday." Meanwhile, the PS3 version has run into supply problems on the west coast, but Gibson says these "are mostly regional and can be addressed by reallocation." Gibson notes that this should happen "quickly." So, how about it? Have you had trouble snagging a copy of Borderlands? %Poll-35895% [Thanks, Nick W.]
Analyst suspects rising PS3 demand could incur shortages
With the revelation of the PS3 Slim and its accompanying price cut, it looks like things are really on the up and up for Sony. It seems that things are so up that many consumers may have difficulty finding a PS3 on the shelves. According to Stern Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia -- as reported on IndustryGamers -- strong "pent-up" demand may lead to PS3 shortages by the end of September. Furthermore, he expects that September sales of the console may climb as much as 75 percent over last year, possibly more if supplies hold up. Finally, Bhatia noted that strong PS3 sales could affect sales of the 360 as well. The reason, according to Bhatia, is that the 360 Arcade SKU maintained its $199 price while the Elite price drop really amounted to no more than a replacement of the Pro tier. Joystiq would be remiss not to point out that the Elite bundle even received a few downgrades in the process. Looks like Jack Tretton may have made that $1200 bet two and a half years too soon.
Amazon says PS3 Slim already facing supply shortages, Sony disagrees
Been holding off on that PS3 Slim pre-order, waiting for Sony to tell you that this whole PS2 backwards compatibility issue was just a big misunderstanding, and of course Sony will keep trying its best to reintroduce PS2 compatibility into the PS3? Well, you might want to rethink that strategy, cowboy, because Amazon is warning of "shortages of this product across the US." It's already limiting Slim sales to one per person, and has a more lax five-Slims-per-person strategy in the UK. Meanwhile, Sony in Europe is saying not to worry, since it has "trucks and trailers" of the new console already on the road . We just don't know who to believe these days, but if you're not prepared to wait past September 1st for a crack at the Slim, you've got some deciding to do. Read - GamesIndustry.biz Read - MVZ
Nintendo finally sees Wii demand slowing, calls iPhone a DS / DSi competitor
While it seemed that all was going well for the Big N, it looks like those jovial times are finally coming to a (temporary) end. In an earnings report filed today, the company posted a 66 percent fall in quarterly operating profit on "slowing demand for its Wii console and a stronger yen." It's not so much the profit slide that's surprising, but the sudden admission that Wii demand has finally (finally!) slowed from a raging boil to simply piping hot definitely caught us off guard. Still, Nintendo maintained that it would sell 26 million Wii consoles before the year was out alongside 30 million DS handhelds, the latter of which has seen momentum slow due to "increased competition in the handheld business from Apple's iPhone." Now, we've known for some time that the suits in Cupertino have always viewed the iPhone as a game console, but to hear it called out as such from an entity not named Apple is another matter entirely. Maybe it should reconsider that whole "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" thing? Nah.[Image courtesy of QuiteCurious]
Pre-ordered Viliv X70s delayed to August 11, new customers might have to wait till September
The way we hear it, there are plenty of Viliv fans out there disappointed that Dynamism missed its promised delivery date for pre-ordered X70 units this week. The retailer says that component shortages are responsible for the delay and is now hoping to deliver by August 11, but there's worse news: new orders aren't expected to ship until September 2, turning what was once a fashionably late arrival to US shores into a rather embarrassing month-long delay.[Via Pocketables]
Sprint and Palm admit that they don't expect wild lines for Pre
It's hard to say what changed between May 20th and today (any ideas, Verizon / AT&T?), but it seems that Sprint's tone on the impending Pre launch has shifted just a bit. In a new report over at Bits, we're told that both Sprint and Palm are informing the public to not expect lengthy lines on launch day. Naturally, both firms are spinning this like it's a good thing, with Palm's Lynn Fox proclaiming that "[Palm's] not like Apple." Mark Elliott, a spokesman for Sprint, even went so far as to say that it was actually attempting to "manage the exact opposite" of long lines, noting that Sprint wanted "each customer to get the experience" rather than being rushed in and out. Honestly, the spin factor was most obvious when he outed this line: "[Success] is not about having a line out the door; it's about being able to treat each customer and make sure they're happy with their decision." Alrighty then.[Image courtesy of IDR]
