All work and no PlayStation – make do with a dull toy

Sony is warning that there will be shortages of PlayStations in the run up to Christmas. The Japanese manufacturer of the wonder console said yesterday it would not be able to meet demand during the festive season, according to Bloomberg. The statement came less than three months after Sony cut the price of PlayStations from $129 to $99, causing sales to rocket. Jack Tretton, a vice president for sales in Sony's US video games division, said the company had shifted more than 1 million of the consoles since the price reduction. "We're going to do absolutely everything we can to get product to the market, but it's painfully obvious that it's going to be hard to find on shelves this year," said Tretton. The US is expected to suffer the worst of the shortages. On Monday, Sony said it was expecting PlayStation sales to top $1 billion for the Christmas season. This was followed on Wednesday by rival Sega upping its own forecast of sales of its Dreamcast console from 1 million to 1.5 million by the end of 1999. Sony is spending $75 million during the fourth quarter on marketing the PlayStation by dishing out demonstration CD-ROMs at Pizza Hut and Tricon Global Restaurants. The PlayStation first showed its shiny face in 1995, and since then over 65 million homes have acquired one. ®