58% of retailers DO have PS3s in the back

When the PS3 was released a few months ago, we can all still remember the hoarding, the panic-buying and the general sense of frenzy that was induced by reports of PS3 shortages. However, it may turn out that all this was unnecessary, as a recent study by American Technology research has concluded that 58% of retailers actually do still have the PS3 in stock.

By questioning over 150 different retailers, they were able to discover that most do have some PS3 units for sale. In fact, the only shortage that they were able to discover would be for the Wii which was available at only 3% of the establishments who participated in the survey. Some are attributing this proportion to either a decline in Sony‘s sales, or to an increase of PS3 units shipped.

So, with these numbers appearing in the U.S., can we expect the same thing to happen when the PS3 is launched in Europe this March? Will European players have to camp out and claw their way to get a spot in line, or can they just simply wait a month or so until the local equivalents of Best Buy and Circuit City are prompted to display their entire inventory?

When the PS3 was released a few months ago, we can all still remember the hoarding, the panic-buying and the general sense of frenzy that was induced by reports of PS3 shortages. However, it may turn out that all this was unnecessary, as a recent study by American Technology research has concluded that 58% of retailers actually do still have the PS3 in stock.

By questioning over 150 different retailers, they were able to discover that most do have some PS3 units for sale. In fact, the only shortage that they were able to discover would be for the Wii which was available at only 3% of the establishments who participated in the survey. Some are attributing this proportion to either a decline in Sony‘s sales, or to an increase of PS3 units shipped.

So, with these numbers appearing in the U.S., can we expect the same thing to happen when the PS3 is launched in Europe this March? Will European players have to camp out and claw their way to get a spot in line, or can they just simply wait a month or so until the local equivalents of Best Buy and Circuit City are prompted to display their entire inventory?