Scalped Series X's are listed at lower prices than PS5's in the US despite the much more limited quantities. Series X is also known to not sell out as quick as PS5. If we're going to mention the reduced prices of scalped consoles as a sign of meeting demand, then this isn't looking good for Series X because it's priced lower everywhere. The Verizon deal can also be interpreted as Microsoft expecting demand to start weakening, or at least not rising to a level where it can meet the new production levels. Demand for Series S was never particularly strong as is (it's been available nearly everywhere, sometimes at a discount), and I expect it to get worse when more PS5 and (potentially) Series X consoles are made available.

If Sony really manage to ramp up production and meet their targets (18 million for this fiscal year). I suspect MS will have lost its "high chance" to win this generation in hardware sales even the in the US. Keep in mind that MS is pushing a lot of Series S consoles, whereas PS5DE is practically not even in the game yet. I know Series X is in limited quantities too, but there are signs of it coming closer to meeting demand, and you can't say this about PS5DE which is potentially even more popular than the disk version. Unlike Series S, PS5DE is identical to the standard model which I think may prove a big selling point. I'm just not sure whether Sony have the intention to produce enough of them, but imo they should 6-12 months after the standard model meets demand.

I've made my points... we'll wait and see. I can see myself betting on Xbox IF (a fat "if") MS keep CoD games away from Playstation, which likely isn't gonna happen coz they'd rather access PS5's install base to maximize software sales (honestly, I wouldn't even rule out Bethesda games coming to PS5 when MS don't get the desired results). Supporting PS5 could also make it easier for them to go on with their acquisition business without as much hassle from regulators. Pure guesses though.

You argue that PS5 is close to meeting demand by pointing to reduced scalped prices and yet, curiously, you don't use the same argument against Series X. Explain why PS5 is selling out faster despite the much higher quantities and no PS5DE push. Explain why it's still priced higher everywhere nearly 19 months after launch. Why were you quick to mention signs of declining demand for PS5 and not Series X? The rarer console is in less demand and is being sold cheaper, how come this doesn't catch your attention? Mark my words: your PS5 predictions are in jeopardy!

I do NOT rule out Xbox Series outselling PS5 in the US even without CoD exclusivity, but your certainty cracks me up man. Things should be a lot more fun during this half of the year, so grab you popcorn and enjoy the show!

I've made my points... we'll wait and see. I can see myself betting on Xbox IF (a fat "if") MS keep CoD games away from Playstation, which likely isn't gonna happen coz they'd rather access PS5's install base to maximize software sales (honestly, I wouldn't even rule out Bethesda games coming to PS5 when MS don't get the desired results). Supporting PS5 could also make it easier for them to go on with their acquisition business without as much hassle from regulators. Pure guesses though.

You argue that PS5 is close to meeting demand by pointing to reduced scalped prices and yet, curiously, you don't use the same argument against Series X. Explain why PS5 is selling out faster despite the much higher quantities and no PS5DE push. Explain why it's still priced higher everywhere nearly 19 months after launch. Why were you quick to mention signs of declining demand for PS5 and not Series X? The rarer console is in less demand and is being sold cheaper, how come this doesn't catch your attention? Mark my words: your PS5 predictions are in jeopardy!

I do NOT rule out Xbox Series outselling PS5 in the US even without CoD exclusivity, but your certainty cracks me up man. Things should be a lot more fun during this half of the year, so grab you popcorn and enjoy the show!

You must be referring to other posts I've made, because the one you replied to only has 3 sentences.  Let me clear things up.  It depends on whether you are talking console sales lifetime or console sales this year/month/week. My posts about the resale market have more to do with what is happening with console sales right now, and don't really extend past this year's sales.

If we are talking lifetime, then PS5 is not going to outsell X|S in the US.  People in the US don't really care about the PS5, and I know because I live in the US.  They care about Switch and XBox.  And we haven't even gotten to the point where PS5 and X|S have gotten next gen exclusives yet.  Once Starfield and the like start coming, then the US is going to go even more for X|S.  Microsoft is also throwing a lot of money around right now, unlike Generation 8 where they gave up early and still did fairly well in the US.

Playstation is not a strong brand in the US.  It hasn't been strong since PS2.  It just doesn't have a chance against XBox in the US this generation, especially with Microsoft throwing around all of this money.

I mean, come on man.  There's plenty of data that shows these statements are objectively false.  Playstation is still tremendously popular to plenty of Americans, especially in the 18-30 demo that makes a large chunk of video game purchases.  Like you, I'm an American mid-40s dad and I agree that among my friends/kid's friends the XBox (and Switch) is typically preferred, but Playstation is still seen as the "enthusiast" console here.

I am reading the data very differently than you.  To me the data says that Playstation is the weakest brand of the top 3 in the US.  XBox360 stomped all over the PS3 sales wise.  The PS4 was clearly a better system than XB1, but it's sales were not that much higher for PS4.  Playstation actually only ever had one really dominant system in the US and that was PS2.  There is this narrative on the internet that Playstation is a hugely dominant brand.  This was probably created by Europeans, because in Europe it actually is a hugely dominant brand.  In the US, it isn't.  It had one dominant generation and that's it.  It's been over 20 years since the PS2 released.  Playstation is a weaker brand than either XBox or Nintendo in the US.

We may be disagreeing, because you don't actually realize how strong both Nintendo and XBox are in the US.  Nintendo has been selling to kids since the very beginning.  Therefore almost every category of gamer has a very positive image of Nintendo.  The only exception is males in their teens and early 20's.  They want to be thought of as mature and distance themselves from what they view as a kiddy console.  Once this group grows up, they realize being a kid is actually pretty great and they start liking Nintendo again.  As for XBox, I can't fully explain it, but I observe that people in the US really, really love XBox.  This category of males in the teens and early 20's is going for XBox.  I saw all this enthusiasm for XBox during Generation 7 and I am seeing it return right now.  Enthusiasm for XBox wasn't there in Generation 8, but it's back now.

When you consider how much Americans like both XBox and Nintendo, that puts Playstation in third place.  Obviously, there are still some Americans who like Playstation.  PS5 did outsell X|S during their first year mostly from PS4 enthusiasts.  This year it's reversed.  X|S has been outselling PS5.  And we have all of those Activision and Bethesda exclusives still coming.  Elder Scrolls and CoD are hugely popular in the US, as are many of the other XBox first party games.  PS5 basically has no chance of outselling XBox in the US.  The real question is "will XBox win by a little or a lot"?  This idea that PS5 can outsell X|S is not grounded in reality.  It makes as much sense as someone saying XBox will outsell PS5 in Europe.  You've got to realize where consoles have a strong regional advantage.  

I never said or implied that Playstation was dominant.  But just because Playstation isn't dominant doesn't mean it's not strong or that Americans don't care for the brand. If that were the case there'd already be PS5s in stock all over the country.  Saying Americans don't care for Playstation is like saying we don't care for Chick-fil-A just because it's outsold by McDonald's and Taco Bell every year (yes, it's almost lunchtime, lol).

I mean, look at American video games media (IGN, GiantBomb, Kinda Funny, etc).  They devote tons of time to Playstation topics, usually far more than Nintendo. Why would they spend so much time on it if Americans didn't care about the brand?

Again, NOT saying Playstation is dominant or even #1, just that I think you underestimate the overall demand of the platform here.  In my opinion it's way too soon to call this gen in favor of XBox Series over PS5 already.