PS3 120gb still sold out after 3 weeks in US

[dunno001]

Carl2291 said:
Sony might be doing this on purpose.

They might be making a nice profit on 250GB PS3's, so are holding off stocking the 120's for as long as possible.

This sums up my thought on it also. The most common figure has the PS3 costing about $337. The difference in cost between a 120 and 250 GB drive is essentially 0. (I'd not be surprised if, since the 120s are approaching custom-order, if the 250 GB drive is actually cheaper.) But material costs are basically the same, so I'll use a no cost change. Now, the 250 GB retails for $350, with 2-3% of the price being for the retailer costs. If I allow 3%, the wholesale cost is $339.50, or, yes, more than the estimated cost. While it's not "nice" profit, it is profit nonetheless. I think Sony's going to keep 120s in short supply if they can, and hope that some people give up and get the 250, thus eliminating the loss from that customer. (There is, of course, the flipside of someone giving up and getting a different system, but this late in, those numbers have dwindled significantly, thus Sony is not losing much, if any, marketshare to this shortage.)

As for stock levels, both the Wii and PS3 120 GB seem to still be constrained, with the PS3 120 moreso. Finding both locally at Gamestop or Best Buy will require checking multiple stores unless you're lucky. (Though I'm confused about BB, since the website claims the 120 is not availiable in stores, acting as though it were in discontinued status.) Amazon is restricting both the Wii and 120 to 1 per household, though only the Wii is in stock as of this post. But 250s are plentiful. Almost all of my local Gamestops and Best Buys have them in stock, as do all the websites. Also, Amazon's system limit on the 250 is not 1, but 3, indicating that they're easier to get. As for the tracker site, it screams as though it's not been updated in a while. I noticed that on the site, nobody has ever heard of a $200 Wii. The PS3 page also lacks any info on the newer 250 system.