Sony has broken virtually every system sales record in history with the PlayStation 4, but that’s not stopped some people from pondering whether it’s attempting to increase demand by holding back stock. Unsurprisingly, SCEA president Jack Tretton has rubbished such claims, stating that the company’s working around the clock to get new units on store shelves as promptly as possible.
“I get asked a lot if we’ve created an artificial shortage in order to create a feeding frenzy, and the answer is no,” he explained on the PlayStation Blogcast. “We have competition out there and there are lots of things that people can spend money on. The holidays only come around once a year, so that’s when we really want to take advantage of the market opportunity.”
Tretton added that the firm shipped every single unit that it could get its hands on ahead of the system’s North American launch, and that resulted in record-breaking sales. “We put a ton of machines out there – we’re at over 2.1 million worldwide now – but we are a global company,” he said. “That means that we’re now in 32 countries and there are a lot of mouths to feed.”
The executive continued that while the numbers are good, they’re clearly still considerably short of demand. “There’s additional product coming into the marketplace between now and the end of the holidays,” he reassured. “Our fiscal year ends on 31st March, so there’ll be great supplies coming post-Christmas, too.”
With the system selling one million units within its first day on sale in North America, the suit continued that it takes several weeks of stockpiling in order to attain such impressive figures. “We had multiple months of production time leading up to the release of the first units, and now they’re going out of the door as quickly as they come in,” he emphasised.
According to Tretton, the firm made 12,000 units available to Amazon.com last week, and they all sold out within 27 minutes. “It breaks my heart if somebody’s got $400 in their hand and they want a PS4 but we can't sell them one, so we’re going to try very hard to make sure that we can,” he stressed. “I don’t have a device yet because I said to sell it.”
But has Sony spread itself too thin with this launch? The console is establishing an install base in regions where the Xbox One isn’t even available yet – but there’s always the danger that the limited supply in battlegrounds such as North America and the UK could turn consumers towards the competition. Do you think that the platform holder made the right decision to launch in so many nations? Sell out in the comments section below.
[source blog.us.playstation.com]
Comments 10
I think Sony made the right decision, launching in as many countries as they have has enabled them to get off to a very strong start, which is a very good thing.
It would be extremely stupid to intentionally hold back stock in an attempt to create an artificial sell-out, so I'm not sure why people seem to believe that that's the case.
Just as I said in my thread, PS4 is sold out. The demand is too high.
In fact, the demand is so high that if Sony had distributed 2 million PS4s for the NA launch they would've been snapped up within several days.
If I were Sony right now. I'd focus most on the States. That's the territory Microsoft are most strongest in. You take your competitor out of the game and then you consolidate everywhere else.
But, I'm not Sony so we'll have to see where this goes.
I do like that he said to give his to a customer. It's a nice gesture, even if it doesn't necessarily prove anything. Glad I was able to preorder and grab one on launch night : )
Just picked mine up
Just picked mine up
I don't have a PS4 yet, hopefully i get one on xmas. Is there any info on the PS4+Vita bundle? When is that supposed to come to the US? Would really prefer that.
The Wii was sold pretty much out everywhere and they didn't really start getting more stock for at least a year and look how well that did. I don't think this is going to be an issue of someone switching to the competition. The PS4 is sold out because people want them. Not the Xbone.
No way are Sony holding back stock to create hype. The object of the game is to get as many consoles into living rooms as possible to sell the games. Most people only buy one console, so you have one chance to grab them. Sony is determined to grab any many as possible from the US and UK, so xbox looses its market share.
Sony have already done the hard work. They have created a cost effective gaming beast which has generated high levels of hype, so no need for underhanded tricks. They just have to make those consoles as fast as possible and deliver them to customers, without compromising quality, before they get frustrated and buy an XB1.
The gamer wins. We have a cheap high powered games console, and going on Sony's proven track record, we will get a flood of great games during the console's lifetime. The future is bright for PS4 gamers.
@RisefromAshes
Yes I agree and that is exactly what Sony are doing. US and UK are priority targets where xbox was strong. All those that could see the PS4 was a beast early on by looking at the spec, pre-ordered and now have their PS4.
The doubters who sat on the fence now realise its a beast and are riding the hype desperate to get one. Sony is working flat out to try and supply them, but there is a limit to how fast you can make them. The late arrivals trying to buy one may have to wait a short while. They will eventually get one if they are patient and definitely won't regret it.
@RisefromAshes It just wouldn't be fair to gamers around the world. I believe your plan would be successful, but at a moral cost initially.
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