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Agent Icebeezy · Dec 20, 2006

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/12/prweb493000.htm

Is There a PlayStation 3 Supply Glut?

The fervor for PlayStation 3 has diminished since the long lines, stampedes, and shootings demonstrated the desperate lengths people will go through to get their hands on the console.

Ellington, CT (PRWEB) December 20, 2006 -- Online services such as NotifyWire.com, which track online retailers and sends "in stock" alerts to members via email and cell phone text messages, have been surprised at the amount of availability online. "I wasn't expecting this much volume before Christmas," said Ian Drake, the entrepreneur behind NotifyWire. "I think we're already at the point where many people won't pay a premium for the console or be forced into buying bundles," he continued, explaining the common practice of bundling consoles and games to force anxious buyers into higher margin items.

Compared to last year's Xbox360 release, Ian says the PlayStation 3 has been available at more retailers, more often, and for longer periods of time. "Last year, at NotifyWire.com, we tracked several one thousand dollar Xbox 360 bundles which would sell out in less than two minutes after becoming available." When asked about PlayStation 3 availability this year, he sited a recent example. "Just today, a one thousand dollar PS3 bundle was in stock at eToys.com for over 12 hours. This sort of thing didn't happen with the Xbox 360 until well after Christmas." Perhaps Sony should be worried.

More evidence that suggests waning demand for the PS3 is available on eBay. Days after the PS3 was released, consoles purchased at retailers for six hundred dollar were consistently flipped on eBay for over two thousand dollars. As of this writing, the same console is selling for slightly above retail and in some cases not at all.

Although Ian said he's not currently tracking eBay auctions, he did comment "I think people are tired of being gouged on eBay and services like NotifyWire.com are making it easier for the every day person to buy the PlayStation 3 online from a retailer they know and trust."

While the Playstation 3 is not readily available from retailers online or off, it looks like level of enthusiasm for the console is moving closer inline with the supply and this is clearly not what the industry was expecting.

sonycowboy · Dec 20, 2006

Agent Icebeezy said:
Compared to last year's Xbox360 release, Ian says the PlayStation 3 has been available at more retailers, more often, and for longer periods of time. "Last year, at NotifyWire.com, we tracked several one thousand dollar Xbox 360 bundles which would sell out in less than two minutes after becoming available." When asked about PlayStation 3 availability this year, he sited a recent example. "Just today, a one thousand dollar PS3 bundle was in stock at eToys.com for over 12 hours. This sort of thing didn't happen with the Xbox 360 until well after Christmas." Perhaps Sony should be worried.

Pricing combined with lackluster launch already affecting the PS3 brand? December NPD numbers should be very, very interesting. If eToys can get units, imagine how many EB/Gamestop, Target, Best Buy, & TRU got.

If the December NPD numbers are lower than say 500k, then I'd agree that the softness at Ebay might be a problem.

Agent Icebeezy · Dec 20, 2006

sonycowboy said:
Pricing combined with lackluster launch already affecting the PS3 brand? December NPD numbers should be very, very interesting. If eToys can get units, imagine how many EB/Gamestop, Target, Best Buy, & TRU got.

If the December NPD numbers are lower than say 500k, then I'd agree that the softness at Ebay might be a problem.

It's hard to read emotion thru a computer, but you seem genuinely surprised by your first sentence.

_Angelus_ · Dec 20, 2006

Now where have I read this topic before?

In some other forum perhaps?

:lol

Agent Icebeezy · Dec 20, 2006

Angelus said:
Now where have I read this topic before?

In some other forum perhaps?

:lol

yeah, but what is your point? News is still news and this is dated as of today. It would've been posted today anyways. I've always maintained price to be a deterrent with the 360 and it just might be that for the PS3 as well. However, carry on.

DenogginizerOS · Dec 20, 2006

The December numbers will be very, very interesting. I think the softness on auctions is because the PS3 is definitely showing up in a lot of brick and mortar locations right now. I would say that they are selling a little slower than I expected, but I do believe Sony has injected a good number into the pipeline. Whether they are shipping more or selling less is really hard to determine without the official numbers.

ToxicAdam · Dec 20, 2006

If it's not Pachter, it's not nooz.

_Angelus_ · Dec 20, 2006

Agent Icebeezy said:
yeah, but what is your point? News is still news and this is dated as of today. It would've been posted today anyways. I've always maintained price to be a deterrent with the 360 and it just might be that for the PS3 as well. However, carry on.

No,no. I was just poking fun is all. There is no point.
And actually, this news is relatively spot on to when it was posted over at....well you know.
Someone said Gaf this,and sure enough its been posted minutes afterwards.

ToxicAdam · Dec 20, 2006

Angelus said:
No,no. I was just poking fun is all. There is no point.
And actually, this news is relatively spot on to when it was posted over at....well you know.
Someone said Gaf this,and sure enough its been posted minutes afterwards.

First day on the internet? Welcome.

Agent Icebeezy · Dec 20, 2006

Angelus said:
No,no. I was just poking fun is all. There is no point.
And actually, this news is relatively spot on to when it was posted over at....well you know.
Someone said Gaf this,and sure enough its been posted minutes afterwards.

Oh, Ok. I just happened to be watching the Halo 3 thing and I logged on and saw this. All fanboyisms aside, gaming needs the PS3 to be at least competent given that it is the strongest brand out of the three. A lot of companies have placed their eggs firmly in the PS3 basket, from movies to games. If they are having difficulty moving units now, gaming as a whole will suffer. That is without question, it's just to what degree it will be.

Zaptruder · Dec 20, 2006

Supply better than expected or demand worse than expected?

All I know is you guys are beta testing those consoles for the rest of us right now.

TheKingsCrown · Dec 20, 2006

In before analcyst

tahrikmili · Dec 20, 2006

Analyst: Folks don't like paying more
GAF: O RLY!

Ash Sparrow · Dec 20, 2006

Yeah honestly been hearing a lot of reports from people of PS3 in stock and not moving, i take it with a gain of salt, because too many people are up on propaganda. That said the things too high priced of course, just like the 360.

PhatSaqs · Dec 20, 2006

I expect December PS3 numbers to triple Novembers based on this news.

Defuser · Dec 20, 2006

Analyst : We have nothing better to do but to stick our uneducated nose into gaming business.

GONZO · Dec 20, 2006

Sony's about to find out how hard it is to move overpriced hardware. They should have just talked to microsoft first and saved themselves some money. But hey how can sony fans not line up by the millions to pay 600 dollars for their system. I mean c'mon, it's sony.

CurlySaysX · Dec 20, 2006

Great news.
This means that the European launch might not be delayed any further.
March Launch confirmed, with an awesome launch line up.
Can't Wait.

Flo_Evans · Dec 20, 2006

should I sell something? Is it over?

He Wants Chalupas · Dec 20, 2006

But what does the worlds first analrapist think?

M3Freak · Dec 20, 2006

I STILL CAN'T FIND IT!!!!!

ChibiRobusuta · Dec 20, 2006

It definitely looks like a ton more units are getting in to stores. Funny though how everyone seems to be saying that they 'aren't moving'. Sure, it might take a few hours to move the 30-50 units a store gets at 2pm on a Wednesday, but they generally aren't there the next day. Might be a sign of problems in a month or so (problems with moving merchandise), but whether a shipment sells out in 30 minutes or 10 hours, it's still sold out.

Dec NPD will definitely be interesting (what sell-through number will make people here go 'WOW' rather than 'wow'?

600k? 800k? 1M? Anecdotally, if November was 200k units sellthrough, and my local stores were getting anywhere from 3 to 15 units, then these same stores are now getting multiple 20+ unit shipments, so hopefully that means several hundred thousand more units are moving into peoples' homes (or onto Ebay for uneducated scalpers

.

Guess we'll see in mid-January!

sonycowboy · Dec 20, 2006

Ash Sparrow said:
Yeah honestly been hearing a lot of reports from people of PS3 in stock and not moving, i take it with a gain of salt, because too many people are up on propaganda. That said the things too high priced of course, just like the 360.

The same thing was happening last year. Sony fans were claiming there were tons of 360's on shelves before Christmas and Xbox fans said they werent' to be found.

Both are, of course, true. Stores do get shipments and for a short time (minutes, hours) they are available. I've yet to see them last longer than that for the PS3, but I'm sure it might happen somewhere, however, just like last year, the shortage of PS3's and Wii's is real and severe and you can't take everybody at their word, unfortunately.

However, Ebay pricing is the biggest issue. If they aren't selling there, I do think that says something about overall demand or about the clientele patterns for Ebay vs brick and mortar stores. IMO, We'll have to wait and see.

gamergirly · Dec 20, 2006

It's the damn price. I dont know what the hell Sony was thinking with $599 consoles. That's more than an Ipod to teenagers

Nerevar · Dec 20, 2006

Why is NPD going to be interesting again?

I mean, they're judging "popularity" by how long $1000+ bundles are available - and they're saying demand is dying down because an obscure online retailer took half a day to move their entire inventory of the aforementioned bundles? It sounds to me like Sony is still selling every unit they ship, no matter how much gouging retailers are doing.

Or are you just saying NPD will be interesting because you want to see how much Sony was able to ship out?

Ash Sparrow · Dec 20, 2006

sonycowboy said:
The same thing was happening last year. Sony fans were claiming there were tons of 360's on shelves before Christmas and Xbox fans said they werent' to be found.

Both are, of course, true. Stores do get shipments and for a short time (minutes, hours) they are available. I've yet to see them last longer than that for the PS3, but I'm sure it might happen somewhere, however, just like last year, the shortage of PS3's and Wii's is real and severe and you can't take everybody at their word, unfortunately.

However, Ebay pricing is the biggest issue. If they aren't selling there, I do think that says something about overall demand or about the clientele patterns for Ebay vs brick and mortar stores. IMO, We'll have to wait and see.

Totally agree i have no doubt that the want is there. I just think that ultimately price isnt as easy to swallow as MS or Sony thinks.

bill0527 · Dec 20, 2006

I don't see NPD being interesting until March or April of next year.

There will be no question of supply of all the big 3 consoles at that point.

cank stoochie · Dec 20, 2006

so now sony must move units within a set limit of hours or they failed? :lol
can this company get a break? damn :lol

charlequin · Dec 20, 2006

sonycowboy said:
Pricing combined with lackluster launch already affecting the PS3 brand? December NPD numbers should be very, very interesting. If eToys can get units, imagine how many EB/Gamestop, Target, Best Buy, & TRU got.

If the December NPD numbers are lower than say 500k, then I'd agree that the softness at Ebay might be a problem.

It's hard to gauge the impact of this news on Sony until NPD comes out, but it is interesting to look at this from the perspective of the sales market for launch consoles in general. To me it looks like the profiteering -- both by retail establishments and individual auction resellers -- on the 360 really bit them in the ass this time around; either more people are trying to be more greedy (and therefore softening the market) or people are less willing to pay predatory prices when availability should skyrocket after the holiday.

Oldschoolgamer · Dec 20, 2006

The $600 price point is an issue, but, I would venture to say that the retailers selling the bundles are making it worse. You might end up paying what you would for the bundle, but, the $1000 price isn't thrown directly into your face.

suaveric · Dec 20, 2006

bill0527 said:
I don't see NPD being interesting until March or April of next year.

There will be no question of supply of all the big 3 consoles at that point.

Exactly. Wii and PS3 are still selling what they're shipping right now. Maybe it's taking longer than expected, but you still can't just walk in to a random store and grab a PS3 off a shelf.

December NPD numbers will be interesting to see just to find out how many consoles really did make it to stores but that's about it. It won't be until the spring/summer before we start to get an idea of just how much the PS3's price is affecting it or if the Wii's hype will carry beyond the "cool new gadget" momentum it seems to have right now.

sonycowboy · Dec 20, 2006

bill0527 said:
I don't see NPD being interesting until March or April of next year.

There will be no question of supply of all the big 3 consoles at that point.

If Sony is catching up on production and

a) Stores have units on hand regularly
b) NPD is "low" for PS3 HW units

Then we can talk. It might well happen sooner than March or April, really depending on a) above.

Razoric · Dec 20, 2006

yeah there are a few auctions on ebay right now that have just a few minutes left and you can get a 60 gb PS3 for $580 - $630.

for comparison... Wiis are going on Ebay for anywhere between $350-450. ****ing nuts! :lol

Ash Sparrow · Dec 20, 2006

I think people have low expectations for Sony shipping alot of units, but maybe supply has really been worked out. could 700K- 800k be reachable?

Norse · Dec 20, 2006

sonycowboy said:
The same thing was happening last year. Sony fans were claiming there were tons of 360's on shelves before Christmas and Xbox fans said they werent' to be found.

Both are, of course, true. Stores do get shipments and for a short time (minutes, hours) they are available. I've yet to see them last longer than that for the PS3, but I'm sure it might happen somewhere, however, just like last year, the shortage of PS3's and Wii's is real and severe and you can't take everybody at their word, unfortunately.

However, Ebay pricing is the biggest issue. If they aren't selling there, I do think that says something about overall demand or about the clientele patterns for Ebay vs brick and mortar stores. IMO, We'll have to wait and see.

holy hell! I agree with this 100%

I think ps3 will ship/sell more systems in december than people thought they would. And I dont think december NPD will be anything but what is expected for the holidays...everything will sell fine.....its a few months from now when I believe we will see true monthly numbers that we can use to come to a conclusion.

LiveWire · Dec 20, 2006

Are they really available in stores though? Or just in stores in Bumble**** USA where no one can afford them or cares to buy one? I was doing some Christmas shopping at Best Buy in Alexandria, VA last night and figured I'd ask for shits and giggles if they had a PS3. The guy in the games section said they got 16 60GB models in that morning and sold out by the time I got there (~5:30PM). Similar stories everytime I asked at area CCs, BBs, Targets for the past two weeks...they come in, they're immediately gone.

Norse · Dec 20, 2006

bill0527 said:
I don't see NPD being interesting until March or April of next year.

There will be no question of supply of all the big 3 consoles at that point.

I agree but would say maybe February/march is all we'll have to wait for.

Y2Kev · Dec 20, 2006

The problem with PS3s on ebay right now is that there are SO MANY of them. When I checked yesterday, there were 20,000 listed. It's absurd.

Early figures had like 20,000 PS3s being sold at 1,200 average (if I remember the press release), but they've got tens of thousands of units flooding the market five weeks after launch. If people wake up and realize that they can just WAIT for them in stores, that could also hamper ebay sales...particularly if sony is hitting shipment targets.

or sony is doomed.

Mrbob · Dec 20, 2006

I hope sales are slowing down, so I can get my wanted 100 dollar price drop in May 2007.

Baron · Dec 20, 2006

Mrbob said:
I hope sales are slowing down, so I can get my wanted 100 dollar price drop in May 2007.

A $100 price drop? Why stop there? I'm not going to buy a PS3 until the top model gets a $500 price drop. Of course, I finally just got a PS2 just a couple of months ago, so that clearly demonstrates how important price is to me. But I don't understand how you people can say "I am waiting for a $25 price drop, yay"? Why would you not want to spend as little as possible on this toy-thing? Why not a $300 price drop?

I'm sure it's just because I have an absolute zero tolerance for over-priced electronic toys, and will only pay what they are worth to me - which is in fact a very low threshold.

tanasten · Dec 20, 2006

Glad to heard that people isn't stupid anymore.

Edit: ****... Glad to heard people isn't stupid anymore. (I now think it's correct, isn't it?)

Y2Kev · Dec 20, 2006

tanasten said:
Glad to heard that people isn't stupid anymore.

oh my god

BenjaminBirdie · Dec 20, 2006

Y2Kevbug11 said:
oh my god

Beaten.

PhatSaqs · Dec 20, 2006

tanasten said:
Glad to heard that people isn't stupid anymore.

:lol :lol :lol

JDSN · Dec 20, 2006

tanasten said:
Glad to heard that people isn't stupid anymore.

Used to believe this until you posted.

Meier · Dec 20, 2006

Y2Kevbug11 said:
oh my god

He's from Spain, so give him a break. I was pretty shocked yesterday when I saw PS3s going unsold or auctions going for $750 with free overnight shipping and the like. The bottom has completely dropped out on there and with the lack of compelling software currently, the only reason to buy one is if you're a HUGE Sony fanboy or wan't a blu-ray player.

mckmas8808 · Dec 20, 2006

PhatSaqs said:
I expect December PS3 numbers to triple Novembers based on this news.

600,000 units sold confirmed.

Catchpenny · Dec 20, 2006

Livewire said:
Are they really available in stores though? Or just in stores in Bumble**** USA where no one can afford them or cares to buy one?

I was in a local Target on Monday evening and they still had three 60 GB units left from the weekend "re-launch". That's the first time I've seen a PS3 on the shelves though, and I still haven't seen a Wii.

Seems more like random luck of the draw than anything. Hopefully it's also a sign that Sony is doing well stocking retailers this month.

mckmas8808 · Dec 20, 2006

ChibiRobusuta said:
It definitely looks like a ton more units are getting in to stores. Funny though how everyone seems to be saying that they 'aren't moving'. Sure, it might take a few hours to move the 30-50 units a store gets at 2pm on a Wednesday, but they generally aren't there the next day. Might be a sign of problems in a month or so (problems with moving merchandise), but whether a shipment sells out in 30 minutes or 10 hours, it's still sold out.

Dec NPD will definitely be interesting (what sell-through number will make people here go 'WOW' rather than 'wow'? 600k? 800k? 1M? Anecdotally, if November was 200k units sellthrough, and my local stores were getting anywhere from 3 to 15 units, then these same stores are now getting multiple 20+ unit shipments, so hopefully that means several hundred thousand more units are moving into peoples' homes (or onto Ebay for uneducated scalpers .

Guess we'll see in mid-January!

What do you mean your "local stores"? How often are these 20+ shipments happening?

Y2Kev · Dec 20, 2006

I think it's funny how Sony was on track for worst launch ever confirmed and now they will have more than the 600,000 Microsoft had in the US for THEIR launch period.

Of course Sony isn't supply Europe, but Sony is also continually supplying Japan (huahua).

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