A new PS3 SKU will go to sale in Europe on August 27th. Already, the effects of the newly announced 80GB Core model has been affecting the sales stream of the 40GB model. According to HMV's commercial manager for games, stock of the 40GB model is dwindling as retailers prepare for the newly upgraded model. For those interested in picking up a PS3, it appears waiting for the 80GB model next month would be the wise choice.

"40GB stock has been in very short supply over the last few weeks ... PlayStation 3 will now boast a monopoly on Blu-ray, increased storage space and Play TV in the near future," Jonathan Hayes noted. "All this points to a stronger proposition for Sony going into Christmas. The only disappointment was the lack of backward compatibility compared to the US version.

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Not surprised 80 gig is a pretty good deal for same price.

There is no doubt it is in very short supply their and the US. I've seen many people reporting that work US retail they have not had shipments for weeks.

This sentence right here is very much the reason this weeks others numbers look bunk from every angle;

Already, the effects of the newly announced 80GB Core model has been affecting the sales stream of the 40GB model.

This and the fact of shortness in supply for the 40gb will be seen in July NPD I have no doubts. Considering these new 80gbs do not hit until nearly September the weekly numbers best take into account some of these issues.

I have noticed this, when I went to game they were out of stock, and I have noticed that they were out of stock on amazon.co.uk a few times recently

It has been in low supply in Sweden since May. DS3+40Gb for the same price is a good deal for us.

Will this mean very low PS3 sales until the end of August?

Microsoft taking a bigger lead.

Coming to Europe too then.

Am I correct in thinking it is exactly the same as the current model here but with extra storage?

Or does this new one not play PS1 games either? (someone said that in a thread but I think it might have been a mistake in an article)

They better sell well if sales in the next few weeks are going to drop...this 80g surge better be worth it!

 I've said before and I'll say it again this new 80gb model they announced at E3 was a knee jerk reaction to the 360's fire sale. Why in world would they have announced that nearly 2 months early just giving people a reason to wait. Watch the PS3 sales come July and August NPD should be very interesting especially with the cut off in shipments for the 40gb so early. The others here should take into account all of these issues as well if they are smart about it.