As the holiday season approaches, Sony's PlayStation Direct store has opened registration for US customers to have a chance at buying PS5 hardware. PlayStation Direct is relatively new to the marketplace, but continues to prove itself a reliable option for checking up on rare PS5 restocks. The online storefront exclusively sells PlayStation-branded hardware and games, including consoles and accessories.
For checkout purposes on regular items, anyone can make a purchase through the PlayStation Direct shop. However, pre-orders for PS5 required an active PlayStation account. And that very same requirement extends to registering for a chance to purchase the console whenever new stock becomes available. To the delight of many a hopeful PS5 owner, one such chance will rear its head sometime during the forthcoming holiday season.
A page on the PlayStation website notes that PlayStation Direct "will have a limited amount of PS5 Consoles available for customers in the US" during this holiday season. Given the limited quantities, those interested must register to potentially receive an invitation to make a purchase whenever the restock goes live. Fine print on the notice reminds users to ensure their email account of choice is connected to their PSN ID. Meanwhile, registration itself should prove as simple as signing in via the Sony Entertainment Network portal. When the stock will actually become available isn't yet known.
In its Q1 FY 2021 report, Sony claimed to have secured enough chipsets to reach its PS5 sales goal for the fiscal year. This news came despite the ongoing chip shortage that continues to affect a wide range of semiconductor-powered industries. And the likes of Intel and Toshiba don't seem too confident in the idea that said shortages will end before 2022.
Sony estimates it will have sold 14.8 million PS5 consoles by the end of this fiscal year, which arrives in March 2022. While this figure may sound overly ambitious, the system is already off to a spectacular start, according to the latest numbers. As of July, for instance, PS5 sales had topped a whopping 10 million units. Thus, Sony's newest gaming device seems well on its way to hitting the 14.8 million milestone over the course of the next few months. It's also worth noting that in spite of early concerns, PS5 is even outselling the PS4 in Japan. PS5 managed to reach one million units sold in Japan in 10 months, whereas PS4 needed 11 months to accomplish the same goal. Imagine how much better the console would be performing without the global chip shortage.
Source: PlayStation