The Playstation 5 still remains at the center of attention almost two years after its release. The console remains difficult to obtain, although the situation has improved greatly in recent weeks. We take stock.
[Mis à jour le 10 octobre 2022 à 14h37] After a big week of sales for the Playstation 5 in France, Sony has just announced ambitious targets for the production of its latest home console. It would seem that the production of the console and its virtual reality headset the PSVR 2 is no longer entirely affected by shortages of microcomponents, allowing the Japanese firm to reach quotas almost worthy of a normal situation. For buyers, this translates into increasingly long and frequent restocking, which we list in detail every day in our article below.
- 14h00 : No news of restocking for the moment this day.
- 10:00 a.m. : The Playstation 5 is available second-hand and at a high price at Rakuten (see below)
Finding the Playstation 5 on Amazon is far from the easiest option for French people. The console is relisted quite regularly on the e-commerce giant’s site, with the particularity of being often sold alone, a fact rare enough to be noted. Except that two points remain quite handicapping for a purchase on the site, the fact that sales of the console are reserved for Amazon Prime members, and the fact that all European countries can take advantage of French restocking and vice versa. The competition is quite tough on Amazon, but it is still possible to find the Playstation 5 there, as well as on the seller’s English, German, Italian and Spanish sites.
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PS5s at Amazon
In recent weeks, Leclerc has been selling Playstation 5 packs quite regularly, containing the console in Standard or Digital version, games, and accessories. On the retail giant’s website, these packs are usually available for pre-order, and are in high demand. It is not uncommon for the brand’s website to grind badly during these restockings, so it is necessary to arm yourself with a good dose of patience before embarking on this stormy terrain. But it is always possible to recover a console, the proof with the massive sale having taken place on October 6 in the morning.
Also, in addition to the web exclusives sold only on the internet, you have the option of going to the store to look for Playstation 5. At the moment, PS5 FIFA 23 packs are flooding the market, and could well be found in stores at once luck. If you pass in front of a Leclerc don’t hesitate to go there to ask the question.
PS5 stocks at Leclerc
One of the most popular retailers in France is still Fnac. The famous cultural retailer offers the console on a relatively regular basis, namely once a week at the moment, in packs rarely including the console alone. There are games, accessories and the console, on pages usually overloaded with visitors. But on the Fnac site, it is possible to add products to your wishlist before buying them directly from your profile when they are available. A good way to avoid the long queues on the website. It is also possible to request the console in store.
Indeed, from experience, you can go to the nearest Fnac store, especially at this time, and ask if it is possible to buy a PS5. It is highly possible that sellers will offer you a FIFA 23 pack, which have arrived in stores in recent days. Do not hesitate to specify if you are not particularly a fan of the game of football, the sellers could well provide you with a different game under the elbow. Again, this situation has been observed very recently which does not make it an absolute certainty. But you can always give it a try!
PS5 stocks at Fnac
CDiscount is one of the most regular French retailers when it comes to Playstation 5 consoles. The e-commerce site often offers the console in more or less extensive packs, even since the price increase of the PS5 in last September. This makes it a target of choice for many French consumers, and implies unfailing responsiveness to hope to get their hands on the console. At CDiscount, we recommend that you create an account in advance and monitor alerts concerning the Sony console. But if you react quickly enough, you should be able to get your precious due.
PS5 stocks at CDiscount
Obtaining a new Playstation 5 at factory prices requires a good dose of patience, and flawless monitoring of daily restocking at different retailers. If the console is back in stock, then it must be purchased as soon as possible, facing stiff competition and high demand. If this waltz of restocking weighs on you, you always have the option of looking for a resale or used console. Its price will inevitably be impacted, resellers being aware of the value of the console, but there are sometimes quite interesting offers, like those just above. As a reminder, the base price of the PS5 is €549 for the Standard version and €449 for the Digital version.
Sources close to Sony recently announced that the company is aiming for 30 million Playstation 5s produced for the fiscal year 2023 (between July 2022 and June 2023). An obvious response to the shortages which greatly handicap its sales, while the console remains the first choice of a large part of the players, far ahead of its competitor the Xbox Series X. This announcement comes to us from the webjournal InsiderGaming, which affirms that the company is currently in the process of producing a new model of the console with a detachable disc player.
But that’s not all, on the sidelines of the announcements of production figures for the year 2023, Sony also mentioned its ambitions for the PS VR 2. The virtual reality headset should not suffer from a slowdown in production, and could thus reaching normal figures during 2023. Good news for consumers who could thus avoid the queues and the restocking waltz that we know for the Playstation 5.
Buying a Playstation 5 has almost become a discipline in its own right. The home console market has changed a lot since the coronavirus pandemic, due to numerous shortages which greatly impact their production. Since November 2020, the date of the release of the PS5 and the Xbox Series X, Internet users have been snapping up the rare console stocks at gold prices. Restocking of new consoles is rare and in high demand, hence the need to react immediately in the event of restocking. In order to help you in your quest for PS5, we have prepared our top ten tips for a quick and successful purchase.
But that’s not all, the console would also have entered a new stage of its existence since Sony would be developing a brand new model. This model would have the particularity of having a fully removable disk drive, making a hybrid between the Standard version and the Digital version. Of course, this copy of the PS5 should not appear on the market for a few months, and we imagine that its price would be higher than that of the PS5 Standard, given the versatility of its new model.
If the summer lacked bad news, here is another one that will greatly displease video game players. Sony has made the decision to increase the selling price of the Playstation 5 by just over 10% in certain regions of the world. De facto, the console sees the price of its Standard version go from 499 to 549 € and its Digital version from 399 to 449 €. An increase justified by Jim Ryan in an article Playstation Blog (Jim Ryan is the CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment) by the climate of global inflation.
This increase is effective immediately in the affected regions, namely the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, Mexico, Canada, China and Japan. Only spared, the United States. In the blog post announcing the price increase, Sony said: “The global economic environment is a challenge that many of you feel around the world. We can see high rates of inflation and hostile monetary curves, impacting the lives of consumers and creating great pressures on many industries. Based on these economic conditions, SIE has made the difficult decision to increase the selling price of the Playstation 5 in certain markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Canada..” Jim Ryan, PDG de Sony Interactive Entertainment
Side gamers, difficult to swallow the pill, an increase of 10% remains consistent, despite the justifications of Sony. The Japanese company claims to follow the evolution of the market, in strong inflation since the coronavirus pandemic and the start of the War in Ukraine. The company claims to put the interests of consumers first, and is trying to maintain its margin on the production of Playstation 5, which is undoubtedly more expensive since the price increase of various raw materials.
The quantity of consoles available on the market is also the subject of the last paragraph of Jim Ryan’s blog post, which states “While this price hike is a necessity given the global economic climate and its impact on SIE, our primary goal remains to improve the supply of PS5s around the world, so that as many players as possible can enjoy everything. that the PS5 has to offer and will offer in the future.“It should be noted that the year 2022 saw the best supply side on the French market, while experts are counting on a return to normal by 2024.
On the other hand, there is one who is likely to smile after this announcement. And yes, it is the Xbox Series. The official competitor of the Playstation 5 retains its original selling price for the moment, giving it a clear advantage over the Japanese console. The Xbox Series S can therefore always be found at 300 € while its big sister the Xbox Series X keeps its selling price of 500 €. A price difference that could well capsize the hearts of some buyers in favor of the American console. That said, it is not excluded that Microsoft announces such an increase in the coming months.
Since its release in November 2020, the Playstation 5 has been permanently out of stock. A situation largely due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the impact of health protocols on the production of electronic chips. Indeed, in Southeast Asia, the leading region producing semiconductor metals, the coronavirus has hit various industries hard, forcing them to slow down their production. Since then, it has been difficult for international trade to resume a normal pace, and difficult for Sony to maintain PS5 production at the height of strong demand.
If you are waiting for an estimate as to the return to normal of the home console market, be aware that forecasts vary from one semester to another. The most recent comes to us from Pat Gelsinger, the CEO of Intel, who estimated in an interview with CNBC that a return to normal could occur in 2024. A fair enough prediction for industry professionals, who remain on fairly pessimistic opinions for the end of 2022 beginning of 2024.