4 ms·

Sony has sold 7.8M PS5 consoles

27 points by finphil 5y ago

balozi 5y ago
Good for Sony. But Sony should also consider taking back and recycling one obsolete unit for every new one they sell. Otherwise all that obsolete product is just industrial waste dumped on unsuspecting communities.
- ostenning 5y ago
  Trading in old consoles used to be quite common when I was younger, is it not a thing anymore? I guess Sony never did that though, it was the retail stores
- flukus 5y ago
  Even better than recycling is reusing, and consoles tend to be about the most reused pieces of electronics. PS4s and their games will go to second hand stores to be picked up by kids and their tight budgets. At least that's how it was 20-30 years ago.
- rozab 5y ago
  That sounds great for Sony's bottom line and terrible for everything else. https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/30/21042871/sonos-recycle-mode-trade-up-program-controversy https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/30/21042871/sonos-recycle-m...
- twobitshifter 5y ago
  There is a concern that psn will make over PlayStations obsolete but that hasn’t happened yet. I sold a fat PS3 I hadn’t used much last fall, so I think a ps4 still has a lot of use ahead of it.
HenryKissinger 5y ago
I'm waiting for a pro version.
- jonny_eh 5y ago
  Just because there was a mid-cycle bump last time doesn't mean they'll do that again.
dmak 5y ago
It's still sold out here in Japan and I've been trying to get one
- jonny_eh 5y ago
  They're sold out everywhere.
izgzhen 5y ago
Can someone explain from supply chain perspective why Apple's new product rarely sold out (even if people have to wait in line to buy), while PS5 is still so hard to place an order despite they've already sold many million units?
- spaceisballer 5y ago
  I’ll be honest tracking down a PS5 is easier than getting a video card. I’m happy with my PS4 but if someone was looking to play games I would just give up on finding a video card and get one of these.
- jjtheblunt 5y ago
  Apple had an issue where they were months late (pre 2009 if i remember) on delivery dates for new products which were orderable, and they've been very serious about not letting that happen since. I forget what product it was.
perryizgr8 5y ago
It has been sold out for months in India :( Maybe we're too small a market for Sony to care about restocking.
wildermuthn 5y ago
If you really want a ps5, then I’d recommend buying one off StockX. The seller sends it to StockX, StockX verifies it as an unopened ps5, and then StockX ships it to you. They’ve been doing this with sneakers and such for a while, and their bid/ask market is entirely transparent. Some would probably say this is only encouraging scalpers, and while this may be true, scalping wouldn’t be an issue if there wasn’t first a supply issue. The scalpers are actually providing a service here: enabling those who want the product the most to get it first. Why should the blind luck of pressing “add to cart” at the exact right moment between inventory filling up and servers coming back online determine who gets a product and who doesn’t? It makes me wonder how many other areas in life could be “scalped” — how many products have scarcity that only need a reseller marketplace to ensure a variable pricing that takes into account 1) that demand is not actually an aggregate, and 2) that disposable income is not an average. Granted, a haggling-driven economy is onerous, as anyone who has lived in a developing country can attest to. But what if haggling weren’t onerous? What if every purchase on Amazon was a bid/ask market? If you want the product now, then bid at the lowest ask. If you are okay with waiting, then put in a low bid and hope for the best. I’m trying to think of a good reason that prices should be fixed, but the only reason I can think of it that verbal haggling is inefficient and that digital markets are not trivial to build. I’m probably just trying to assuage my guilt over paying scalpers, but I think there is probably a unicorn of a startup somewhere in here.
- wildermuthn 5y ago
  Downvoted or not, my ps5 has been shipped to StockX and will be sent along to me soon enough. Scalping is a fascinating economic topic with ramifications beyond sneaker and consoles.

27 points by finphil 5y ago

Good for Sony. But Sony should also consider taking back and recycling one obsolete unit for every new one they sell. Otherwise all that obsolete product is just industrial waste dumped on unsuspecting communities.

ostenning 5y ago
Trading in old consoles used to be quite common when I was younger, is it not a thing anymore? I guess Sony never did that though, it was the retail stores
flukus 5y ago
Even better than recycling is reusing, and consoles tend to be about the most reused pieces of electronics. PS4s and their games will go to second hand stores to be picked up by kids and their tight budgets. At least that's how it was 20-30 years ago.
rozab 5y ago
That sounds great for Sony's bottom line and terrible for everything else. https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/30/21042871/sonos-recycle-mode-trade-up-program-controversy https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/30/21042871/sonos-recycle-m...
twobitshifter 5y ago
There is a concern that psn will make over PlayStations obsolete but that hasn’t happened yet. I sold a fat PS3 I hadn’t used much last fall, so I think a ps4 still has a lot of use ahead of it.

HenryKissinger 5y ago

I'm waiting for a pro version.

jonny_eh 5y ago
Just because there was a mid-cycle bump last time doesn't mean they'll do that again.

dmak 5y ago

It's still sold out here in Japan and I've been trying to get one

jonny_eh 5y ago
They're sold out everywhere.

izgzhen 5y ago

Can someone explain from supply chain perspective why Apple's new product rarely sold out (even if people have to wait in line to buy), while PS5 is still so hard to place an order despite they've already sold many million units?

spaceisballer 5y ago
I’ll be honest tracking down a PS5 is easier than getting a video card. I’m happy with my PS4 but if someone was looking to play games I would just give up on finding a video card and get one of these.
jjtheblunt 5y ago
Apple had an issue where they were months late (pre 2009 if i remember) on delivery dates for new products which were orderable, and they've been very serious about not letting that happen since. I forget what product it was.

perryizgr8 5y ago

It has been sold out for months in India :( Maybe we're too small a market for Sony to care about restocking.

wildermuthn 5y ago

If you really want a ps5, then I’d recommend buying one off StockX. The seller sends it to StockX, StockX verifies it as an unopened ps5, and then StockX ships it to you. They’ve been doing this with sneakers and such for a while, and their bid/ask market is entirely transparent. Some would probably say this is only encouraging scalpers, and while this may be true, scalping wouldn’t be an issue if there wasn’t first a supply issue. The scalpers are actually providing a service here: enabling those who want the product the most to get it first. Why should the blind luck of pressing “add to cart” at the exact right moment between inventory filling up and servers coming back online determine who gets a product and who doesn’t? It makes me wonder how many other areas in life could be “scalped” — how many products have scarcity that only need a reseller marketplace to ensure a variable pricing that takes into account 1) that demand is not actually an aggregate, and 2) that disposable income is not an average. Granted, a haggling-driven economy is onerous, as anyone who has lived in a developing country can attest to. But what if haggling weren’t onerous? What if every purchase on Amazon was a bid/ask market? If you want the product now, then bid at the lowest ask. If you are okay with waiting, then put in a low bid and hope for the best. I’m trying to think of a good reason that prices should be fixed, but the only reason I can think of it that verbal haggling is inefficient and that digital markets are not trivial to build. I’m probably just trying to assuage my guilt over paying scalpers, but I think there is probably a unicorn of a startup somewhere in here.

wildermuthn 5y ago
Downvoted or not, my ps5 has been shipped to StockX and will be sent along to me soon enough. Scalping is a fascinating economic topic with ramifications beyond sneaker and consoles.