Sony CEO on PS5 sales: "Absolutely everything is sold"

[Shawn Knight]

A wing and a prayer: With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just days away, one has to hope that retailers have held back at least a sliver of stock to offer during these sales events. Even if supply is very low, there’s still at least a glimmer of hope that eBay, Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace won’t be the only place to find marked up electronics this holiday season.

2020 will go down in history as one of the stranger years in recent memory, at least in terms of holiday shopping. While it’s not uncommon to have one or two red-hot items that are next to impossible to get your hands on during the holidays (remember Tickle Me Elmo, the Nintendo 64 and Furbys?), this year has well over half a dozen items that fall into that category.

Those in search of a Microsoft Xbox Series S | X are mostly striking out, as are those hunting for a PlayStation 5, any of AMD’s new Ryzen 5000 series CPUs and Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics cards. AMD’s new Radeon RX 6800 and 6800 XT cards also appear to be out of stock at this moment.

During a recent interview with Russian news outlet TASS (via TechRadar), Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan said, “Everything is sold. Absolutely everything is sold.”

“And everything will be sold in Russia, there’s no doubt about that. I’ve spent much of the last year trying to be sure that we can generate enough demand for the product. And now in terms of my executive bandwidth I’m spending a lot more time on trying to increase supply to meet that demand.”

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/87705-sony-ceo-ps5-sales-absolutely-everything-sold.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

The only way this gets solved is if Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nvidia, etc ship their products direct from the manufacturer to the customer...

I waited on line at Microcenter and was able to get a 3080, a 3090 and a 3070 on launch day, but many people could get nothing and went home disappointed.

I tried to buy PS5 and Xbox for family members, but completely failed due to the stores telling everyone to log on simultaneously at 3PM - which obviously ended up crashing the servers as if there was a DDOS attack. Both consoles sold out - at Walmart - before 3:01PM.

Then I realized, it was worse than just "bots". There is an organization actually snapping up systems to flip them and they are way more sophisticated than I could imagine.


These manufacturers need to have a website that:

#1 allows individuals to purchase a single unit using a credit card
#1a uses anti-bot verification
#1b uses verified email or online account verification.


#2 disallows the same credit card from being used twice in one month.

#3 disallows the same shipping address from being used twice in one month.

#4 disallows more than one unit per household.

I am thankful I had the foresight to actually go physically to Microcenter. They get shipments each week, but they get snapped up even before being entered into inventory. I had a hell of a time even getting my X-56 Rhino.

Building up a PC to run modern games has made me apathetic towards these console releases since neither of them can even hope to compete with a 3070, 3080 or 3090 - not to mention AMD's new cards.

But then there's the kids who will want Switch and can't get one.

Forget the PS5/ Xbox.

Parents will have no choice but to spend $1000 on Ebay to get one.

 

[ZipperBoi]

The only way this gets solved is if Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nvidia, etc ship their products direct from the manufacturer to the customer...

I waited on line at Microcenter and was able to get a 3080, a 3090 and a 3070 on launch day, but many people could get nothing and went home disappointed.

I tried to buy PS5 and Xbox for family members, but completely failed due to the stores telling everyone to log on simultaneously at 3PM - which obviously ended up crashing the servers as if there was a DDOS attack. Both consoles sold out - at Walmart - before 3:01PM.

Then I realized, it was worse than just "bots". There is an organization actually snapping up systems to flip them and they are way more sophisticated than I could imagine.


These manufacturers need to have a website that:

#1 allows individuals to purchase a single unit using a credit card
#1a uses anti-bot verification
#1b uses verified email or online account verification.


#2 disallows the same credit card from being used twice in one month.

#3 disallows the same shipping address from being used twice in one month.

#4 disallows more than one unit per household.

I am thankful I had the foresight to actually go physically to Microcenter. They get shipments each week, but they get snapped up even before being entered into inventory. I had a hell of a time even getting my X-56 Rhino.

Building up a PC to run modern games has made me apathetic towards these console releases since neither of them can even hope to compete with a 3070, 3080 or 3090 - not to mention AMD's new cards.

But then there's the kids who will want Switch and can't get one.

Forget the PS5/ Xbox.

Parents will have no choice but to spend $1000 on Ebay to get one.

You went to a store and bought 3 graphics cards. Ever stop to think that maybe you are a little bit part of the problem when it comes to short supply? I understand this is mostly on the companies not getting proper supply for the demand but someone going out and buying 3 cards, regardless of them being different models...doesn't help.

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

Bloomberg, September 15: "Sony Cuts PlayStation 5 Forecast by 4 Million Due to Chip Woes" sparking fears of a PS5 shortage.

Sony, September 16: "While we do not release details related to manufacturing, the information provided by Bloomberg is false. We have not changed the production number for PlayStation 5 since the start of mass production." Manufacturing projects FROM SONY said it would be producing 10 million units through the end of the year.

Really? So you mean to say 10 million PS5s have already been produced and sold (or technically pre-sold since production is an on-going process)?

IMO, Sony is just lying about production. Not that it is necessarily its fault. A lot of OEMs have been having trouble with shipping and their supply chains, but don't say everything is on-track when clearly it's not.

 

[nulll]

You went to a store and bought 3 graphics cards. Ever stop to think that maybe you are a little bit part of the problem when it comes to short supply? I understand this is mostly on the companies not getting proper supply for the demand but someone going out and buying 3 cards, regardless of them being different models...doesn't help.

The only problem is the absurd lack of patience being demonstrated in society, it's a piece of hardware for playing video games which is so far into the "nice to have" category for anyone rational that it beggars belief that this is even a news story. As gaming has been a hugely popular hobby since at least the mid 90's there is an immense back catalog of amazing titles available. Find something you haven't previously had a chance to play and dig in till these new tech goodies are less in demand (or even on sale?). In the process you're making a succinct financial choice not to mention simply offloading the stress of procuring the new hotness while everyone else is desperate for it too.

18 Months from now the Nvidia RTX 4070 will be nearly on par with a current RTX 3090 for 1/4 the cash (say $650-$700 CDN or ~$500US) and it'll be over twice as powerful as the new consoles. Simply offset your purchasing habits by 12 months from the cadence of the trends and you'll be better off mentally and financially.

 

[m4a4]

The only way this gets solved is if Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nvidia, etc ship their products direct from the manufacturer to the customer...

I waited on line at Microcenter and was able to get a 3080, a 3090 and a 3070 on launch day, but many people could get nothing and went home disappointed.

I tried to buy PS5 and Xbox for family members, but completely failed due to the stores telling everyone to log on simultaneously at 3PM - which obviously ended up crashing the servers as if there was a DDOS attack. Both consoles sold out - at Walmart - before 3:01PM.

Then I realized, it was worse than just "bots". There is an organization actually snapping up systems to flip them and they are way more sophisticated than I could imagine.


These manufacturers need to have a website that:

#1 allows individuals to purchase a single unit using a credit card
#1a uses anti-bot verification
#1b uses verified email or online account verification.


#2 disallows the same credit card from being used twice in one month.

#3 disallows the same shipping address from being used twice in one month.

#4 disallows more than one unit per household.

I am thankful I had the foresight to actually go physically to Microcenter. They get shipments each week, but they get snapped up even before being entered into inventory. I had a hell of a time even getting my X-56 Rhino.

Building up a PC to run modern games has made me apathetic towards these console releases since neither of them can even hope to compete with a 3070, 3080 or 3090 - not to mention AMD's new cards.

But then there's the kids who will want Switch and can't get one.

Forget the PS5/ Xbox.

Parents will have no choice but to spend $1000 on Ebay to get one.

It would be a start but you're assuming it's that easy to get such a system in place quickly. A lot of edge cases to work out, and can't have false positives either (especially on such a big scale).

And kids (and parents) can learn a lesson on patience. They're just unwittingly making scalping worse for everyone.

Ps. I hope those cards you bought are for family members (or have better context), or you're part of the problem lol

 

[NicktheWVAHick]

....And yet, the world’s economy is supposedly going down the tubes and people have no money to buy food or medicine.....Must be the 1%ers that are buying all the toys. Funny this never happened over the last 40 years.

 

[SirDigby]

Most accessories are also sold out - I'd quite like to get hold of the 3D headset or a 3rd party one that promises the same functionality.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

....And yet, the world’s economy is supposedly going down the tubes and people have no money to buy food or medicine.....Must be the 1%ers that are buying all the toys. Funny this never happened over the last 40 years.

There are roughly 50,000,000 people in America at risk or already living below the poverty line...but that's out of 331,000,000.

15%.

I'd say things don't really hit the fan till 15% grows to 30% because at that point, you have significant swings in voting for populist, socialist candidates.

Thing is: In America specifically, the "kids" are so deep in debt that they aren't a contributing factor to the retail economy and that becomes the biggest problem. Cars don't get sold. Homes don't get sold...

 

[QuantumPhysics]

You went to a store and bought 3 graphics cards. Ever stop to think that maybe you are a little bit part of the problem when it comes to short supply? I understand this is mostly on the companies not getting proper supply for the demand but someone going out and buying 3 cards, regardless of them being different models...doesn't help.

I sold my 3070 to a guy in Hawaii who was more than happy enough to pay me enough money to justify selling it to him and cover the shipping fee. I didn't "gouge" him, but if not for me, he'd never have been able to get it to complete his build.

Based on your logic, I was part of the problem simply because I lined up to buy (anything).

If you were behind me in line and I bought the last 3090, I was part of the problem as well.

Thing is, I had two computers to upgrade so the 3090 and 3080 purchase made sense. I also added back to the market selling back two 2080Ti's for not even $200 less than I purchased them for, since buying 2080ti's post 3080 release is still ridiculously overpriced.

I don't consider myself a scalper. I only got one of each and I will go right back to try for a 3060Ti.

My real gain was in making Youtube adventure videos going to get them.

The manufacturer needs to do the due diligence of making these units attainable and stopping the scalping.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Most accessories are also sold out - I'd quite like to get hold of the 3D headset or a 3rd party one that promises the same functionality.

I was lucky to get the Logitech G Pedals before they sold out.

I was even luckier to see Microcenter get just one X-56 Rhino in stock, run out and buy it before it even hit the shelves.

Everyone being home and locked in has been crazy for peripherals and consoles as well as parts.

Thank God we have digital downloads of games because otherwise, games would be impossible to get.

However, you can see just how many people are lined up for the games themselves when you watch servers slow down and crash as people start digital downloads.

 

[NicktheWVAHick]

There are roughly 50,000,000 people in America at risk or already living below the poverty line...but that's out of 331,000,000.

15%.


I'd say things don't really hit the fan till 15% grows to 30% because at that point, you have significant swings in voting for populist, socialist candidates.

Thing is: In America specifically, the "kids" are so deep in debt that they aren't a contributing factor to the retail economy and that becomes the biggest problem. Cars don't get sold. Homes don't get sold...

What would really be instructive is statistics on who is actually buying these items...Xbox, PS5, Ryzen, RTX 30’s. I suspect that it is not all just scalpers, but that there are plenty of people in massive debt (student loans, etc) who are purchasing them anyway. I don’t disagree that this year hasn’t presented unprecedented supply challenges and that NVIDIA played its hand wrong with memory suppliers etc, but I also think we have a large proportion of citizens who will buy SOTA parts when they really can’t afford them. So what’s different this year?.....Unprecedented demand or a supply chain that seemingly became broken for multiple products overnight?

 

[QuantumPhysics]

What would really be instructive is statistics on who is actually buying these items...Xbox, PS5, Ryzen, RTX 30’s. I suspect that it is not all just scalpers, but that there are plenty of people in massive debt (student loans, etc) who are purchasing them anyway. I don’t disagree that this year hasn’t presented unprecedented supply challenges and that NVIDIA played its hand wrong with memory suppliers etc, but I also think we have a large proportion of citizens who will buy SOTA parts when they really can’t afford them. So what’s different this year?.....Unprecedented demand or a supply chain that seemingly became broken for multiple products overnight?

#1 Everyone's (more than 99%) are buying on credit card. If they had to use physical money at the point of sale, this wouldn't be a problem.

#2 The problem I see is an artificial supply chain created specifically with intent to scalp as the profit motive is high enough to justify their actions.

They are selling everything for twice the price.

The only way to win is NOT TO BUY, but for an American parent or college student with a credit card and an itchy trigger finger, not buying isn't an easy option - although it should be.

Forcing these scalpers to sit around holding items no one will buy from them removes their profit motive and discourages scalping.

Scalpers used to scalp iPhones until Apple broke them by making the phones more available and linking them to individuals at the point of sale.


On a side note: Amazon truck employees are straight up STEALING purchases...

 

[Endymio]

There are roughly 50,000,000 people in America at risk or already living below the poverty line..

And the majority of them buy new iPhones, along with designer clothes and sneakers, and eat most of their meals fast-food. They're certainly in the market for a new PS5 as well.

The problem I see is an artificial supply chain created specifically with intent to scalp

You're right, it must be a conspiracy. It couldn't possibly be the result of a worldwide pandemic disrupting supply chains while simultaneously inflating demand for in-home entertainment products.

 

[Tuxie]

The only problem is the absurd lack of patience being demonstrated in society, it's a piece of hardware for playing video games

The thing is that the Corona-winter is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for people to be able to stay at home and play video games for extended periods of time without feeling pressured to "do things".

 

[terzaerian]

I sold my 3070 to a guy in Hawaii who was more than happy enough to pay me enough money to justify selling it to him and cover the shipping fee. I didn't "gouge" him, but if not for me, he'd never have been able to get it to complete his build.

...even if it's quote unquote fair this is still the textbook definition of scalping

The only problem is the absurd lack of patience being demonstrated in society, it's a piece of hardware for playing video games which is so far into the "nice to have" category for anyone rational that it beggars belief that this is even a news story. As gaming has been a hugely popular hobby since at least the mid 90's there is an immense back catalog of amazing titles available. Find something you haven't previously had a chance to play and dig in till these new tech goodies are less in demand (or even on sale?). In the process you're making a succinct financial choice not to mention simply offloading the stress of procuring the new hotness while everyone else is desperate for it too.

18 Months from now the Nvidia RTX 4070 will be nearly on par with a current RTX 3090 for 1/4 the cash (say $650-$700 CDN or ~$500US) and it'll be over twice as powerful as the new consoles. Simply offset your purchasing habits by 12 months from the cadence of the trends and you'll be better off mentally and financially.

100% this.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

Bloomberg, September 15: "Sony Cuts PlayStation 5 Forecast by 4 Million Due to Chip Woes" sparking fears of a PS5 shortage.

Sony, September 16: "While we do not release details related to manufacturing, the information provided by Bloomberg is false. We have not changed the production number for PlayStation 5 since the start of mass production." Manufacturing projects FROM SONY said it would be producing 10 million units through the end of the year.

Really? So you mean to say 10 million PS5s have already been produced and sold (or technically pre-sold since production is an on-going process)?

IMO, Sony is just lying about production. Not that it is necessarily its fault. A lot of OEMs have been having trouble with shipping and their supply chains, but don't say everything is on-track when clearly it's not.

You guys even reported on an early indicator last week that there would be a shortage: https://www.techspot.com/news/87662-sony-there-would-no-ps5-shortage-but-how.html

 

[Ludak021]

The only way this gets solved is if Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nvidia, etc ship their products direct from the manufacturer to the customer...

I waited on line at Microcenter and was able to get a 3080, a 3090 and a 3070 on launch day, but many people could get nothing and went home disappointed.

I tried to buy PS5 and Xbox for family members, but completely failed due to the stores telling everyone to log on simultaneously at 3PM - which obviously ended up crashing the servers as if there was a DDOS attack. Both consoles sold out - at Walmart - before 3:01PM.

Then I realized, it was worse than just "bots". There is an organization actually snapping up systems to flip them and they are way more sophisticated than I could imagine.


These manufacturers need to have a website that:

#1 allows individuals to purchase a single unit using a credit card
#1a uses anti-bot verification
#1b uses verified email or online account verification.


#2 disallows the same credit card from being used twice in one month.

#3 disallows the same shipping address from being used twice in one month.

#4 disallows more than one unit per household.

I am thankful I had the foresight to actually go physically to Microcenter. They get shipments each week, but they get snapped up even before being entered into inventory. I had a hell of a time even getting my X-56 Rhino.

Building up a PC to run modern games has made me apathetic towards these console releases since neither of them can even hope to compete with a 3070, 3080 or 3090 - not to mention AMD's new cards.

But then there's the kids who will want Switch and can't get one.

Forget the PS5/ Xbox.

Parents will have no choice but to spend $1000 on Ebay to get one.

#1: ONE card per generation per customer, not three. 2x more cards, whoila. You kind of are the part of the "problem" but reviews are the biggest problem, tens of thousands of cards where given away for free to people that will plug them in once for the test and put them on shelves. Then comes "you" that needs 3070 3080 and 3090. And complaining about shortage. Well, stop contributing to it
No ill intent here, just pointing out how greedy people are, Americans mostly.

 

[brucek]

The only problem is the absurd lack of patience being demonstrated in society, it's a piece of hardware for playing video games which is so far into the "nice to have" category for anyone rational that it beggars belief that this is even a news story.

My parents were patient, and thrifty, people. One way they demonstrated this was by taking me only to movies at the discount second-run movie theater. And indeed they saved a few bucks on every ticket. Meanwhile I was excluded from every conversation about the latest movie at school, and by the time I finally got to see it, no one cared any more.

Humans are social animals and want to share experiences. I understand the stress of any parent who is worried their children will be the ones left out this holiday season. The "good news" may be that supply is tight enough so that maybe it will be the rare PS5 recipient who is actually off on their own.

Of course I agree that on a fundamental level a silicon shortage is not an emergency in the way a food or energy shortage would be. It's definitely in the "make life nice" vs "allow life to continue" category. That said it's not nothing and its unfortunate that better supply was not available.

 

[SirDigby]

I was lucky to get the Logitech G Pedals before they sold out.

I was even luckier to see Microcenter get just one X-56 Rhino in stock, run out and buy it before it even hit the shelves.

Bloody hell how much cash do you have to burn

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I sold my 3070 to a guy in Hawaii who was more than happy enough to pay me enough money to justify selling it to him and cover the shipping fee. I didn't "gouge" him, but if not for me, he'd never have been able to get it to complete his build.

Based on your logic, I was part of the problem simply because I lined up to buy (anything).

If you were behind me in line and I bought the last 3090, I was part of the problem as well.

Thing is, I had two computers to upgrade so the 3090 and 3080 purchase made sense. I also added back to the market selling back two 2080Ti's for not even $200 less than I purchased them for, since buying 2080ti's post 3080 release is still ridiculously overpriced.

I don't consider myself a scalper. I only got one of each and I will go right back to try for a 3060Ti.

My real gain was in making Youtube adventure videos going to get them.

The manufacturer needs to do the due diligence of making these units attainable and stopping the scalping.

So, to summarize, you scalped a 3070 then spun up a nice little story to justify your scalping, while simultaniously decrying others who do the exact same thing.

 

[p51d007]

You went to a store and bought 3 graphics cards. Ever stop to think that maybe you are a little bit part of the problem when it comes to short supply? I understand this is mostly on the companies not getting proper supply for the demand but someone going out and buying 3 cards, regardless of them being different models...doesn't help.

Probably stocked up on toilet paper too....for a RESPIRATORY virus.
I guess the next pandemic, that causes "the runs" everyone will be stocking up on sinus medication LOL.

 

[Edster]

There is just not the supply.

I simply don't think this many tech companies screw up badly is a coincidence or a sign of (total) incompetence. The pandemic drove up demand, but I think the pandemic sufficiently affected supply to drive the balance completely off.

In a non-pandemic timeline, supply would had been fine. But they (Sony, MS, nVidia, AMD) all were planning for a late 2020 release of their products in the development cycle but all ultimately must still "meet" it due to competition.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Probably stocked up on toilet paper too....for a RESPIRATORY virus.
I guess the next pandemic, that causes "the runs" everyone will be stocking up on sinus medication LOL.

When lockdown first started here in NYC...YES I stocked up on Toilet Paper. 72 total rolls. also helped some friends and family out with 36 roll packs of Charmin.

I'm good on TP till March I'd say.

there are some people who recognize market fluctuations and act on them.

The Free Market is ALWAYS Right.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

So, to summarize, you scalped a 3070 then spun up a nice little story to justify your scalping, while simultaniously decrying others who do the exact same thing.

LOL