With the 2006 holiday season firmly behind us, all "next-gen" consoles are out of the gate and running. Sony has announced that the company has shipped 1 million PlayStation 3 consoles and says that they are on track for their European launch in March. Now that the mad holiday rush is over, however, Sony's challenges are just now mounting. Without a doubt, the PS3 launch was something to behold: news stories of insanely long lines, fatal shootings and occasional muggings made it clear that in the early days, getting a PS3 was darn near impossible. Many saw the PS3 as pure eBay gold. Reality has set in, however. Suddenly PS3 speculators can't unload their units on eBay for a profit. Gaming blogs have started joking that the PS3 excels at collecting dust on shelves. Has demand really died down that quickly? We decided to find out by checking stores in the Cincinnati and Boston metropolitan regions. The results are unambiguous: the PlayStation 3 is in stock, almost everywhere. In Cincinnati, there were PS3s at multiple Wal-Marts, GameStops, and Circuit City stores. The numbers went from only one system at the first Wal-Mart store to 15 at the second; everyone else seemed to have under ten units, mixed between the 20GB and 60GB models. If you want to buy a PS3, it's simply a matter of going to the right store or ordering from Best Buy or Circuit City online, both of which have them in stock, ready to ship. The same can be said for the Xbox 360, which is also available everywhere we checked. The Wii, on the other hand, has been sold out everywhere, with vague rumors of another shipment in the next few days. One retailer spoke to me on condition of anonymity, and broke down his version of the situation. "It's not that we've gotten more PS3s than Wiis, it's just that no one wants them. We've seen a few returned. We have four in the store right now," he said. He also told of people coming in with multiple systems and no receipts, looking for cash back after their eBay listings failed to gather attention. "If you told me that I would have PS3s to sell and that I won't be able to get enough Wiis back in October, I would have laughed at you," he went on. He also detailed a memo from a regional vice president telling managers to put up a hand-written note telling customers that the PS3 is in stock. Without any clear numbers outside of the 1 million shipped in North America, it's hard to say if demand for the PS3 is cooling or if supply is simply catching up. Recall that it wasn't until spring was nearly here last year that Microsoft was able to meet the initial demand. It's not the case that the PS3 isn't selling well, however. One store manager revealed that they have sold 24 of 28 launch units, and most others who would talk to us told similar tales. Sales are strong; they're simply not as strong as many expected and a few even hoped. The rush for the PS3 is over, and now it's up to Sony to get the games and updates needed to put the PS3 back in the minds of gamers to move this inventory. This is a marathon, not a sprint, but the widespread availability has to be troubling to Sony. When the "sold out" stories quickly become "inventory stacked to the ceiling a month later" stories, shareholders may become somewhat unsettled by how strong the competition has become. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070108-8574.html

Well ,that is old news but from what I can see from this PS3 finder site http://ps3finder.com/ the PS3 is again sold out nearly everywhere ...it must be that right now it receives much bigger shipments and they dont sell out in one hour but rather in 3-4 days ....

Again, this is all anecdotal, I know several people in Florida, New York, Cali, etc. That claim they can't find any PS3s. I also know here in Indiana you can find a Wii and it's not hard at all. Just like PS3 in my town, not hard to find. And PS3 ramped a high volume of production already. 1 million units is more than what 360 had available for all of November, December, January, and February. And by the time they hit 1 million (NPD) in March it was available on walk in.

I went to Gamestop the other day and was amused to find a paper sign on the door exclaiming "WE HAVE PS3'S". At first I thought this was a joke by the staff as it was identical to similar fanboy fodder posted on various blogs and forums. But when I asked who's cleaver idea it was, he told me that corporate sent down an email telling managers to advertise in stock PS3's by way of A4 paper signs in the window. Either way there is plenty of stock in my area, but no Wii's in sight. I think part of Sony's problem is the razor edge of all the launch hype: people thinking none are in stock. This problem, combined with the price and practically no exclusive titles has likely lead to many people holding off on a purchase, and really, can you blame them?

Matter of fact, I added these numbers last night. Japan - 360 - 2005 - 86.75k US - 360 - 2005 - (According to NPD - 610k) + 10% for Canada is 670k Europe Purchases 50% less 360s than NA. So that would be 335K. You do the math. That's about 1.1 million "sold" worldwide by the end of 2005 and you're trying to say they shipped 1.5 million to the US alone in 2005. LMAO. Anyone who was out looking for a 360 last year know they had production issues until April.