It reminds me of the iPhone SE and how no one wants them.
Yeah, "budget tech" always gets a lot of goodwill online but hardly anyone buys it.
Why spend 399€ on a budget Iphone when you can get a Xiaomi flagship for that price?
The Series S was available in Europe since launch. You could even see it being 50€ off or find a value bundle deal.
So it seems like people either waited to buy a PS5 or went with the Series X.
People always underestimate that the retail price of a console != "total cost of ownership".
Let's assume you buy a console and keep it for 5 years:
Once you add accessories (ca. 100€), buy online for 5 (ca. 500€) and 10 games (ca. 600€ / 2 games per year), the retail price of the console isn't as much of a factor.
You will spend 500€ for the console + 1200€ across 5 years on various things = 1700€
While a 299€ console looks good at first glance, it isn't that much of a bargain over time, you only save 200€ up front the remaining cost stays the same.