I've been checking Itrackr.com every few days the last couple of weeks and it seems like we're entering a PS3 shortage now. About 7-10 days ago, PS3s were at 70% national availibility according to the site. Checking the site today, I found that PS3s were down to 31%, the lowest it's been since early to mid January. What do you guys think is going on? Are PS3s picking up steam in the marketplace? Or has Sony stopped replenishing supply in order to stockpile systems for the European launch? And if the European launch is already causing shortages here, could we be in for a couple of months of shortages? This seems like a setback for Sony in America, considering that they were poised to sell a good amount of systems in March with all the game releases within the next 6 weeks (VF5, F1, Motorstorm, Splinter Cell, Virtua Tennis 3, Oblivion, FEAR, and Armored Core 4, Enchanted Arms). So what do we think?

I think Sony is diverting units for Europe, to make that launch smoother. Unlike North America or Japan, you are dealing with a multitude of languages and cultures. I imagine designating shipments for each (relatively) small European market takes alot of time and effort, enough to strain world wide supply. Nintendo seems to still be recovering from a world wide launch, and Microsoft was restrained by manufacturing bottlenecks when it launched.

There's two logical conclusions: A) Sony is shipping less. Some retailers were complaining that the PS3 is just shitting on thier shelves, in some cases, for over a week. Retailers could just order less so they don't waste floor space and transit costs. It could also mean that Sony is diverting manufacturing capabilities for PAL region in preparation for the March launch. Probably a combination of the cited examples above. B) PS3 is picking up some steam. How likely? I don't know. We'll see with January NPD numberson Tuesday. The February numbers should be more indicative. We should also wait for the official shipped numbers from Sony to compare the actual sell trough vs supply.

I just saw some yesterday at both TRU and Target in my area (central massachusetts). So I guess it depends where you are.

I would say companies cut down on new shipment orders (it is after Xmas after all), and are trying to get rid of all the existing stock before placing new orders. Especially if units have been sitting on shelves for a while. There haven't been any major US PS3 game launches have there? It wouldn't take much to drive sales, with the console being so "new"...

All of the consoles so far have been shipped by air to the US to make sure that they got there as quickly as possible. This is a huge expense and its possible we are seeing Sony switching over to more standard shipping already.

Dunno how legit these numbers are, they were posted on Beyond3d North America sales for January 2007 ------------------------------------------- Wii 431,550 Nintendo DS 389,901 PlayStation 3 288,636 PlayStation 2 253,456 Xbox 360 217,670 PSP 164,342 Game Boy Advance 146,667 GameCube 28,954 Xbox 1,099 http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38761 They sound legit to me, but I've been wrong before.

Those appear close to the numbers that were posted and subsequently deleted the other day. dunno whether that makes them more legit, or less.

I saw 2 PS3's on the floor at wal-mart. Came back 2 hours later. they were both gone. Also sold a 360 Premium. EDIT: They had 2 PS3's in the back as well. They were sold also. (it was friday. Payday.)

I (unfortunately) have been going to way too many walmarts lately ... was at two walmarts today and the same two last weekend ... They both recieved a shipment of (6,8) PS3 systems last weekend and still had (2,3) systems today ... There really is no reason to assume that demand has spiked in february when no game has been released so you could assume that Sony is diverting some of its production to Europe in order to have a larger launch and more steady supply than they had in North America / Japan.