Since early 2010, consumers have been reporting a shortage of PlayStation 3 consoles at a variety of retailers. Amazon has been sold out of the popular 120GB PS3 roughly 90% of the time during recent months while retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart have been reported to be sold-out on a weekly basis. A GameStop employee has now revealed that the PS3 has also struggled to stay in stock at their popular chain as well.
COO of GameStop, Paul Raines, has officially commented on the PlayStation 3 shortages that many consumers have been experiencing. Paul said the following during GameStop’s discussion about the first quarter of the year:
“Supply on hardware was a continuing challenge this quarter, as on an average daily basis, our U.S. stores were out of stock for the PS3 for 80 percent of the time…”
Although some have challenged whether or not the PS3 has actually been out of stock on a nation-wide basis, both consumer reports and this official quote from Paul Raines definitively confirm the shortage. The shortage has had an enormous effect on PlayStation 3 sales so far the year, and when the console has been in stock it has managed to top sales charts.
Even with the shortage in mind, Sony are well on their way to reaching the 13 million sales goal for fiscal year 2010. With E3 on the horizon, huge announcements by Sony are expected and the most anticipated title of the generation, Gran Turismo 5, should boost sales to remarkable heights. Hopefully Sony are preparing for such an evolution in the PS3’s popularity.
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