Strictly speaking, more PS5 consoles have already been sold than PS4 consoles were sold in the same period back then. While supplies were scarce for a long time with the PS4 as well, the situation with the PS5 is unprecedented.
The blame is no longer solely placed on the high demand for the PS5 or production bottlenecks; rather, it's on bots and scalpers who are buying up the entire market. As a result, the consoles are only reaching end customers slowly, which is now also frustrating Sony.
PlayStation boss Jim Ryan said this in a current interview with Axios, who are making every possible effort to get as many PS5 consoles onto the market as possible, but remain powerless against bots and scalpers.
“This really frustrates and angers me, especially when resellers and bots manage to get their hands on stock,” Ryan said. “Sony is working ‘incredibly hard’ with retail partners to get the PS5 into ‘the right hands’.”
To ensure this in the future, the following is being started: PS Direct The program will soon be available in Europe, where you can then purchase your PS5 directly from Sony. This is intended to take the wind out of the sails of scalpers and bots. Exact details on the implementation are still to come. Presumably... the PS5 purchase then linked to your own Sony ID.
Bots are both a blessing and a curse.
Many people swear by the various PS5 bots online that instantly inform you about the console's availability. These are both a blessing and a curse. The intention behind them may be noble and beneficial, but when such a bot sends out 100.000 users simultaneously, who then storm the stores, chaos is inevitable. It's not uncommon for these stores to be completely crippled, and getting your hands on a PS5 becomes an absolute gamble.
This was evident again today with the new Ratchet & Clank bundle, of which an estimated 4.500 units were available on Amazon. It took less than a minute for these to sell out completely, much to the frustration of those who missed out once again.
For those who are already happy PS5 buyers, it's sometimes no longer even about getting a PS5 this way; now it's... since the resale value is more likely to be with a profit in view, which is still considerable per PS5 unit.
As long as there is no fair competition here, which cannot be assumed, the difficult situation with the PS5 will probably drag on for months.
Sony is already on the right track with its own Sony Store, similar to Apple Stores. They simply prioritize all orders from customers with a PlayStation account. While it's impossible to completely eliminate scalpers, it can definitely be mitigated. This way, scalpers lose interest. At least, that's my theory.