Are Australian gaming console retailers being denied access to stock at the expense of US retailers?

Currently JB Hi Fi, EB Games and have no stock of the new PlayStation 5 or the Microsoft Xbox Series X consoles, yet in the USA both Walmart and Games Stop are promoting that they will have stock this week.

A year after the “next-gen” PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S consoles debuted, they’re still in short supply in Australia — and the same goes for Nintendo’s Switch and Switch OLED.

Research group NPD Group said console hardware sales in November were down 38 percent compared to the same month in 2020, which is when the new PlayStation and Xbox launched.

That drop comes despite consumers still clamouring for one of the new gaming consoles.

Some observers claim that the lack of stock is good news for PC gaming Companies such as Dell with their Alienware PC gaming range, Acer with their predators as well as Lenovo and ASUS.

In November, the Nintendo Switch dominated sales, and the data shows that, combined, the new and old versions sold 1.13 million units last month.

Sony and Microsoft PR executives have gone very quiet in Australia when it comes to questions about console sales, with Sony PlayStation new PR executive Kathryn Brown failing to return calls.

It was only a week ago that Sony’s PlayStation division was having to respond to questions about the arrest of a senior executive for soliciting a 15-year-old boy for sex.

NPD analyst Mat Piscatella confirmed in a tweet that the Xbox Series family came in second in unit sales behind the new PS5.

Overall, there has been a 10% decline YoY in console sales.

According to US sources the PS5 stock will be available in select GameStop stores on December 17th, the retailer has said that they will not ship to Australia.

In an effort to pull through additional sales the PS5 restock in the USA Sony is forcing consumers to also buy new games and accessories such as headphones and controllers.

The PS5’s being offered are disc-based consoles and include, three games, a DualSense charging station and an extra gamepad.

The games are Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut.