Long before the PS5 and the Xbox Series X opened their pre-order windows, there were rumours fluttering around the web about potential stock shortages. And now, with both the consoles already released, we're still living with the reality of trying to find places where these next-gen consoles are in stock!
With fewer people being able to go to work due to COVID-19/Coronavirus, it's natural that issues like this could arise. (The pandemic could impact the fabled Nintendo Switch Pro, as well.)
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Sony has recently stressed that its production plans for the PS5 have not changed, but you can't deny that it's hard to find one right now.
With that in mind, here's everything you need to know about where to find a PS5 console to pre-order right now...
Where is the PS5 in stock? Where can I buy a PS5?
As promised, PS5 pre-orders began on 17th September 2020, with retailers around the world scrambling to get their product pages online - and customers racing to place orders before stocks ran out.
Now that the PlayStation 5 has released and retailers have began to ship the first wave of consoles to those lucky enough to secure one, a second wave of PS5's might be incoming as retailers receieve further stock from Sony.
Currys is one place that seemed to have stock recently: you can click right here to go to the Currys PS5 page, but last time we looked, they had reverted back to a 'sold out' holding page.
John Lewis has also had the PS5 in stock previously, given its unassuming position as a games retailer: you can click here to fly off to the John Lewis site and see if it's in stock, but it wasn't the last time we looked.
The UK retailer Argos has started listing PS5 consoles as well: you can click here to view the product range from Argos, but it looks like the stock is selling out as quickly as it goes up.
Things are not looking good at Amazon right now, either: at the time of this sentence being written, the Amazon product page for the PS5 Standard Edition in the UK says 'Currently Unavailable', which means the first wave of stock may have run out. You can click here to check the Amazon page, though - it might have updated since we wrote this.
The PS5 Digital Edition also seems to be out of stock at Amazon - you can click here to check out the product page for that one.
There is also a whole family of official PS5 products, from headsets to charging stations, which are available to order now and more likely to be in stock compared to the PlayStation 5- you can click here to check out the range.
CLICK HERE: Check out the PS5 tie-in products!
PS5 stock shortage rumours SHOT DOWN by Sony
Not long before the PS5 pre-orders went live, a report came out via Bloomberg, with the outletalleging that Sony has cut its production yield by four million units following issues with its custom system-on-chip (SOC).
According to Bloomberg sources, the production yield for these SOC's is as low as 50%, hindering its ability to create the intended number of PS5 consoles. Sony has, as such, reportedly its estimation of consoles manufactured to be 11 million by the end of the fiscal year.
Sony saw this, and opted to release its own statement via GamesIndustry.biz. This is what Sony has said:
āWhile we do not release details related to manufacturing, the information provided by Bloomberg is false. We have not changed the production number for PlayStation 5 since the start of mass production."
However, as gamers around the globe scramble to find PS5 consoles in stock online, you can be the judge as to whether Sony has produced enough consoles! We'll keep this article updated as more stock is spotted...
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