Sony says it will have more PS5 in stock, cites 'unprecedented' demand

Shoppers brave long lines for PlayStation 5, Xbox amid pandemic

Although fears over the COVID-19 pandemic thinned out typically large Black Friday crowds, lines still grew outside of retailers selling the latest PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

As consumers deal with a shortage of supplies for Sony's PlayStation 5, the Japanese tech giant said it will be releasing more inventory to retailers before the end of the year.

"We want to thank gamers everywhere for making the PS5 launch our biggest console launch ever," PlayStation's official Twitter account said in a post. "Demand for PS5 is unprecedented, so we wanted to confirm that more PS5 inventory will be coming to retailers before the end of the year – please stay in touch with your local retailers."

Father and son sleep outside Cherry Hill GameStop for 2 days to get Playstation 5

FOX 29's Steve Keeley is with a father and son who slept outside a Cherry Hill GameStop to get a Playstation 5 on Black Friday.

Sony's competitor, Microsoft, has also faced significant shortages of its new Xbox console.

Speaking at an investment conference earlier this month, Xbox CFO Tim Stuart said, "I think we’ll continue to see supply shortages as we head into the post-holiday quarter, so Microsoft’s Q3, calendar Q1."

Customers queue up at a counter of an electronics store in Sydney on November 12, 2020, on the day of the official launch of Sony's next-generation PlayStation 5 gaming console. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP) (Photo by SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Stuart, who joined Microsoft in 2002, added that supply and demand would start to converge outside the holiday shopping window.

"We'll have supply cranking over the next, what, four, five, six months. And that's when I expect to see really that demand profile start to be met, which will be really, really great."

Nintendo's Switch continues to be the best-selling next-gen console, despite being initially released in 2017. It is expected that Nintendo will launch a new version of the Switch next year, according to several media reports.

Shares of Sony were up 1.7% in early Wednesday trade, while Microsoft was off 0.2% and Nintendo gained 0.7%.

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