It Doesn’t Matter That The PS5 Pro Isn’t Sold Out

We are veering back into console wars territory today with a new line item that I’d argue, probably does not have much significance. The Verge’s Tom Warren shot to the top of reddit with a tweet noting that the $700 PS5 Pro is not sold out in either the US or UK, meaning it won’t exactly be hard to come by for the holiday. It is true, I can buy one myself from Sony direct as we speak.

Many are using this to indicate that demand for the console is low and that price point plus limited upgrades shown through demonstration has been something of a failure. But, we have to look at this in a broader context.

• First, the reason that original PS5s were so hard to come by was massive disruption of the supply chain in the pandemic era, and that is no longer happening here.
• Second, it’s a device with a limited audience which has always been true for mid-gen upgrades, and we have no idea what the “limit” on console supply even is, whether it’s a lot or a little, so whether it’s sold out or not really does not mean much unless we know exact numbers or Sony’s internal forecasts. It could have sold out at 50,000 units, or not sold out at 400,000 units, we have no idea.
• Finally, unless I’m mistaken, I cannot remember there being a period where last generation’s PS4 Pro was actually sold out, and that console was not considered some sort of failure.

Mainly, I think people are remembering A) the original scramble for the PS5 where it was sold out for ages, though that was due to it being a new generation in the midst of massive supply issues and B) the recent attempt to get the 30th anniversary limited hardware which…is limited, unlike the base PS5 Pro.

I don’t know how PS5 Pro will perform in the end. That price is high, especially in many regions, a huge leap from current consoles. And it has had at least some trouble showing off especially impressive cases of the system upgrading games. Sometimes, sure, but it’s a bit of a tough sell.

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Still, we do not know Sony’s expectations about sales or attach rate or anything like that. The best estimates are that the total PS4 sales for that generation included 12% being Pros. So we’re not talking about half of current owners upgrading or anything, and some analysts are forecasting that it might end up with the same proportion as PS4 Pro anyway.

I’m still making up my mind on whether to get one or not, but I think a lot of it does in fact depend on what, if any, upgrades the thing will have for GTA 6 when that finally arrives. I simply play almost every single title I can on PC these days, so that leaves exclusives, and there are not that many on PS5 I care to play at the moment, though that may change in the future. I’ve never found my current system lacking, however, and $700 feels like it could be devoted to more relevant things.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.