It’s an exciting moment in the video game industry. We recently had the launch of two new console platforms. Likewise, we’re seeing a move to services like the Xbox Game Pass, which grants players access to countless video game titles. However, while most gamers are looking at the latest-generation consoles, it’s becoming an actual pain trying to obtain a unit. The launch came at a difficult time, thanks to the worldwide health pandemic. Now, nearly a year off from when the console platforms first launched, we’re still dealing with a short stock supply.
The PlayStation 5 has been one of the hot ticket items for gamers, and it’s a rough go finding units available. Nearly every retailer out there is unable to supply a unit. That’s incredibly frustrating as the only other option some players are forced into going through is its resellers. Scalpers are actually some of the accused of the stock supply being near impossible to find. Walmart recently just had its restock of PlayStation 5 units, and consumers looking for one had been battling the store item page trying to add a unit into their cart.
Now consumers are venting their frustrations online. It’s being said that the Walmart restock didn’t last more than 30 seconds. That’s how many consumers were ready to jump in and purchase a unit up. Unfortunately, there are also accusations that scalpers, along with bots, are to blame. This will likely be a problem consumers will have to deal with for the foreseeable future, which is a bummer since we’re not far off from the holiday season. With that said, Sony does know that there is a problem when it comes to supply and demand.
Fortunately, Sony secured enough semiconductors to manufacture 12 million more PlayStation 5 units within this fiscal year. That’s hopefully enough to get some console units into the hands of gamers rather than resellers. Although that’s not to say we won’t find these units being scarce once again since electronics like semiconductors are proving to be challenging to find as well.
