Does Amazon Confirmation E Mail Indicate A Delay for The PS 4 or Simply Just Greater Demand Than Expected

Like many consumers the launch of the upcoming game consoles from Microsoft and Sony are a hotly contested, yet highly anticipated event. For this article I am not going to be taking a stance on the merits of one system over the other but simply pointing out some interesting maneuverings in the presell battles. The other day I was contacted by some people who told me that they had a cryptic message from Amazon regarding their day one pre-order of PlayStation 4. I did some checking with other people improve ordered and even looked at a pre-order we had set aside as a gift. Upon checking the status of the order, I was given the following message ….Thank you for shopping with us. We’d like to let you know that Amazon has received your order, and is preparing it for shipment. Your estimated delivery date is: Monday, January 6, 2014 – Wednesday, January 8, 2014.

While I appreciated the attention to detail this does raise some rather interesting questions . Since all the people I checked with were day one pre-orders either the supply of new PlayStation 4 consoles is going to be very limited or perhaps the January date signifies a later release date then fans had originally intended as most of them had been expecting the new consoles somewhere around November of 2014. Now I understand this could simply be investment and should I release date in November arrived that certainly would not be out of the question for the consuls to ship early. However as somebody who regularly purchases through Amazon, they generally do not commit to a ship date without a pretty good understanding of one product will be available. The standard line has always been we have received your order and able ship once the product is ready and that she will be given an e-mail at a time to verify this.

I went to the local GameStop to do some browsing as I often do and talk with the staff . The employee told me that Microsoft has only allocated a very small amount of Xbox One units to retailers for launch. He said this tactic allows Microsoft to count that they have sold out of all of their pre-orders as well as create demand for the unit through orders that will be filled in the weeks and months ahead.

He said that Sony on the other hand has set no limits as to their pre-orders. As a result, he believes that several people who pre-ordered expecting a day one release, will actually receive their unit for several months or weeks down the road when supplies start to catch up with demand. He said there will likely be some very upset people who thought they would be getting a day one shipment as a pre-ordered at the first available date from their retailer but will find out that they may not see unit for a few months after street date.

Interestingly enough, GameStop yesterday indicated that they had received a limited allocation of Xbox One units that were available for pre-order and that consumers wishing to get their hands on the new console needed to take advantage of this offer before they were gone.

In the end what really will matter is the quality of the unit’s , the games , and the features of each console, but for people who purchased pre-orders on day one with the anticipation of having units for the upcoming holiday season, this could lead to a lot of frustration for both consumers and retailers alike if people with day one pre-orders are forced to wait weeks or months for delivery.

You can check out our June magazine and our coverage of the E3 Expo and a report on the Xbox one below.