Sony's Struggle to Restock PlayStation Portal in the United States
Sony is facing challenges in restocking the highly successful PlayStation Portal handheld in the United States, with estimated delivery times extending into spring 2024. The demand for the device has been overwhelming, leading to widespread shortages and difficulties for retailers to keep up with orders. Scalpers are taking advantage of the shortages, offering the device at double its retail price on third-party platforms. Sony's latest estimates indicate that supply stabilization is unlikely before spring 2024. Despite its initial commercial success, questions remain about the production capacity and the ongoing supply chain issues.
Demand Outstrips Supply
Sony is seemingly having a difficult time restocking the PlayStation Portal in the United States, with estimated delivery times of the latest stateside orders for the device reaching into spring 2024. The latest evidence of the company's struggles surfaced online mere weeks after the PlayStation Portal released to rave reviews.
The fact that Sony's handheld was poised to have a strong commercial debut became apparent even before its November 15 release. That's largely because the PlayStation Portal was sold out in many places across the globe as soon as its pre-orders went live in late September. And while select retailers offered several rounds of advanced orders, pretty much all of Sony's distributors continue to struggle to keep up with the demand as of late December, at least in the U.S.
The latest piece of evidence testifying to that fact emerged online on December 29, when the PlayStation Portal briefly returned to the stock of the official PlayStation Store on Amazon. The renewed listing—spotted by Twitter user Wario64—was seemingly live for less than an hour before the device once again went out of stock, based on the social media reactions to this find. Moreover, the few people who did manage to get their orders in reported estimated delivery times of mid-March 2024. A three-month ETD is a fairly strong indicator that Sony continues to struggle with restocking the PlayStation Portal.
Twitter article posted by Wario64
Retailers Struggle to Keep Up
Be that as it may, Amazon users at least got the chance to order some PlayStation Portal units earlier today, which is more than what other stateside retails offered in late December. Based on historical storefront data, the handheld device has been listed as 'sold out' on Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart, and the PlayStation Direct store since early December.
These inventory insufficiencies are not the only issue to have troubled the device since launch, as underlined by the fact that at least one fan previously received two PlayStation Portals for the price of one. Scalpers are also trying to take advantage of the ongoing shortages, with third-party listings on Amazon and eBay currently offering the PlayStation Portal for up to $400, or double its retail price.
Supply Chain Challenges and Future Outlook
Sony's latest ETDs indicate that the PlayStation Portal supply in the U.S. won't stabilize until spring 2024, at the earliest. Overall, it would appear that the handheld's inability to operate as a standalone console—which is widely touted as its biggest drawback—did not inhibit its initial commercial momentum. Granted, it's still unclear how many PlayStation Portals Sony actually managed to produce in 2023, so the product's early success is still lacking some crucial context.
