PlayStation 5 Digital Edition consoles reportedly in short supply

[Cal Jeffrey]

Rumor mill: Despite Sony's claims that PlayStation 5 production is on track and that fears of shortages are unfounded, we are already seeing evidence that this is not the case. The problem may be even more pronounced for those seeking the cheaper digital version.

Last week, retailers sold out of their pre-order allotments in less than 24 hours, with some believing they won't get any more before launch day. This week, Amazon notified customers with PS5 pre-orders that they might not even get their console on launch day. The situation might even be compounded for those wishing to get their hands on the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition.

Ars Technica reports that initial unit allotments were light on the cheaper console. An assessment of inventory samples from several GameStop stores in the US shows that the disc-drive-free units only made up for a small fraction—less than one-quarter—of the systems available.

For example, GameStop in Pittsburg had 15 units up for grabs, but only two were the digital version. Likewise, in Texas, the Dallas and Austin stores had a combined 50 PS5 pre-orders available, but just 14 were the Digital Edition. Of the nine US GameStops sampled, the more affordable console only accounted for about 24 percent of the stock.

An anonymous source seemed to confirm that the shortfalls are not isolated to the United States. An insider with GameStop Canada said that it got an allotment of 22,000 units and only 3,000 (13 percent) were PS5 Digital Editions.

Take this report with a grain of salt. It is by no means an official or scientific survey and only looked at the inventories of a handful of GameStop stores. Sony and GameStop have also not commented in an official capacity, so treat it as a rumor for now. However, the consistency between the initial pre-order allocations seems to indicate that there are certainly fewer digital consoles than the standard available. This ratio could change over the next few days or more.

On Monday, Sony tweeted an apology for the pre-order mess and said it would be releasing more PS5 consoles in the coming days and "through the end of the year." We'll have to see if these additional shipments level out the standard/digital proportions. If not, scalpers could make Sony's more affordable option the most expensive.

Image credit: Natanael Ginting, Graphs by Ars Technica

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/86822-playstation-5-digital-edition-consoles-reportedly-short-supply.html

 

[ZackL04]

Im sure this is on purpose, that drive doesnt cost sony $100

 

[Uncle Al]

I'm told by a friend that makes his living distributing software and hardware that this is an all too typical "gag" that the companies use to generate excitement and get everyone out looking for the product. He said it's usually good for about 30 days; by which time the producer better have the goods ready or face a nasty backlash ....... take that for what it's worth to you ....

 

[brucek]

How much of a scalper's paradise can it be if the higher end model is only $100 more and in wider supply?

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

I'm told by a friend that makes his living distributing software and hardware that this is an all too typical "gag" that the companies use to generate excitement and get everyone out looking for the product. He said it's usually good for about 30 days; by which time the producer better have the goods ready or face a nasty backlash ....... take that for what it's worth to you ....

Yeah. I have no inside knowledge but have long held this to be true. In fact, I mentioned it in my previous article about the "perceived" shortage. Slow-walking pre-orders is a good and effective way to create the illusion that there is more demand than there really is.

How much of a scalper's paradise can it be if the higher end model is only $100 more and in wider supply?

Well, that all depends on how many standard editions they release. If neither console can be expeditiously had, both are going to end up on eBay with heavily exaggerated prices with the digital priced slightly less, but still, more than you would pay for the standard box. We'll just have to see what Sony meant when it said more are coming.

 

[Edster]

Im sure this is on purpose, that drive doesnt cost sony $100

Agree and disagree.

Colour me surprised on the digital model being out of stock. This is not like XsX vs XsS, where one is significantly cheaper.

I was just looking at local stores for Assassin's Creed Odyssey vs on PSN sale. Maybe is different in America, but the local stores (as in all of them) had it as less than half the price of PSN, which is on sale (admittedly, is the deluxe addition). A few more games that you buy from the bargain box and you make up the difference, probably take a couple years. Even for brand new games, the prices in store is around 10% less than on PSN.

So I definitely agree that the drive don't cost them 100 dollars, I disagree the sentiment Sony is trying to make money from it. They probably make significantly more profit over time if people are locked into digital only.

 

[complexxL9]

How much of a scalper's paradise can it be if the higher end model is only $100 more and in wider supply?

What are you talking about? How is console with cd-rom 'higher end model' ? It only differs in price an unnecessary cd-rom, it is in no way 'higher end model'. In my view digital edition is 'higher-end' as it does not contain clunky legacy components.

On that note we had PS5 preorders go live yesterday in Lithuania, they were sold out in an hour, but we did not even have digital version available, only the asymmetrical one. Which speaks something about the availability of digital version. And we all* have fiber internet here, the only use case for cd-rom version would be the second hand market for games.

 

[Burty117]

What are you talking about? How is console with cd-rom 'higher end model' ? It only differs in price an unnecessary cd-rom, it is in no way 'higher end model'. In my view digital edition is 'higher-end' as it does not contain clunky legacy components.

Well by definition, a higher end model does more than the lower end model. This can play UHD blu-rays (which is new tech) and allows anyone with PS4 games on disk to play those as well.

I dunno if anyone here has tried to buy a proper UHD player for their PC but they do come in at around the £100 mark (for an external one at least)