While some naysayers may not believe it, the short supply of PlayStation 4 devices is real, and not something that Sony has created on their own. SCEA president Jack Tretton addressed the shortage on a recent Playstation Blogcast assuring everyone that Sony has not created a shortage to draw additional attention to the new device.
“Do you create an artificial shortage because you want there to be a feeding frenzy? No you don’t…You have competition out there; there are lots of things that people can spend money on, especially during the holidays; and the holidays only come around once a year so that’s really when you want to take advantage of the market opportunity.”
Within the first 24 hours Sony was able to sell over 1 million PS4 devices, which is said to be the biggest video game launch in history. In the month since the release Sony has been able to move 2.1 million units worldwide which is not huge considering that is just only double what they sold in the first 24 hours.
Sony has pointed a big portion of the blame for the supply shortage because the PS4 takes time to build. The process in which the PS4 is constructed prohibits Sony from being able to pump out large numbers in a quick time frame. Coupling the build time with the fact that the PS4 is available in 48 markets has Sony stretched pretty thin.
Hopefully in the coming weeks Sony is able to get more PS4 units available for consumer purchase as there is a clear demand that needs to be met by production.
