Retailers are cutting back Sony shelf space.

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Kresnik said:

Sad to hear that for Sony. But that's the US, where Xbox dominates and Wii-U is going to sell extremely well, at least in the short term.

In my local Gamestation (UK), 1 wall and 1 rack (idk how to describe it) of space are PS3, 1 wall of space is 360, 1 rack of space is Wii, and there are 2 racks in the middle which are divided between PSP, PSV, DS, 3DS & PS2.  Haven't really checked supermarkets, but at least in Tesco where I do shop it's about equally divided between PS3, Wii & 360 at the moment (with 3DS & Vita getting negligible amounts of space)

That's almost the way it is here right now, but the Xbox 360 section gets 12 foot.  Previously, earlier in this generation,  Sony got 12 foot of retail shelve space with Xbox and Nintendo getting 8 foot.  Up until the release of Kinect in fact, Sony had 12 feet of space.  Then it changed at some point after that.

Unfortunately, people outside of the US underestimate the power of a big-box retailer on Black Friday.  A place like Gamestop or Gamestation basically has all of its walls and floor space to divide up toward all three consoles, three handhelds, and the PS2.  Big box retailers don't.  They have a set number amount of retail space to dedicate to games, so they have to dedicate it to what sells.  The Wii U, whether you like it or not, will sell extremely well this holiday.

That said, they offer consumers a lot of options for gift buying on Black Friday.  The fewer shops/trips people have to make, generally the better on Black Friday.