Sony has admitted it is not shipping enough PlayStation 3 consoles into the UK.
The company told trade paper MCV today that it has experienced PS3 "stock issues". Sony UK Sales Director Mark Howsen said: "We are doing our best to address these issues and hope to catch up in the next few weeks."
The shortages - which Sony admitted are particularly hitting the 120GB PS3 Slim - are affecting the US too. The company's US wing said earlier this week the would-be buyers can "expect tight inventory in the coming months" - 'sold out' signs in shops, in other words.
Sony is, you won't be surprised to hear, painting the shortages as a sign of strong demand for the console, though. Howsen told MCV suppliers are asking for 20 per cent more PS3s than Sony forecast they would.
And it does Sony no harm to keep eager buyers unsatisfied. It helps sell the consoles it is feeding into the UK: if it's sold out, it must be popular; if it's popular, it must be worth having, some punters assume.
But too many 'sold out' signs, on shelves for too long, will eventually irritate buyers to the point that that the give up - and Microsoft's Xbox 360 takes the sale. Sony doesn't want that, especially with the arrival of the latest title in the Final Fantasy franchise, FF XIII, now less than a month from release.
