Don't expect a PS5 restock news today, even with all of the President's Day sales for 2022
The Sony PS5 console won't be in the news today with PS5 retailers lacking stock of the console
You shouldn’t expect PS5 restock news today, even with all of the various President's Day sales for 2022 over the next 24 hours. Sony won’t be a part of it.
While retailers in the US are highlighting deals on cheap laptops, 4KTV sets and smart home gadgets throughout Monday, February 21, the Sony PS5 console isn’t expected to be for sale at Best Buy, Target, Walmart or GameStop during the holiday weekend.
My American retail sources say it’s not happening today, but this isn’t a big surprise to anyone who has followed my trusted PS5 restock Twitter tracker over the last year. I have reported that the PlayStation 5 console has never been in stock during any major American holiday, including President’s Day last year. Thanksgiving was the one exception at GameStop stores, but anything goes in the retail business during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, especially when it comes to PS5.
Trusted PS5 restock reporting
I’ve seen other publications report that a PS5 restock may happen today. But we also saw these same reports predict a restock during last year’s Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day weekends. But the PlayStation 5 add-to-cart button never lit up during those major US holidays. It was a bust for Sony fans, and it backed up trust in my news reporting leading up to the launch of The Shortcut.
It makes sense to think a PS5 restock was happening: retailers in the US typically would want to draw people to their websites while hawking President's Day sales. However, there are two things working again this conventional wisdom:
Retailers in the US don’t have the PS5 inventory even though they would want to draw customers to their websites to check out other President’s Day sales today. My sources have told me time and time again February 2022 would be a dull month for PS5 restock output. This was an understatement.
PS5 restock dates require top managers even if it’s regular employees that have to do the grunt work of moving console inventory. Since so many people take vacations during long weekends, I’m told that holidays like President’s Day are never a good time for major retailers to sell in-demand items like the PS5. It requires significant all-hands attention of director-level employees, I’m told.
Will US stores ever restock PS5 in 2022?
Surely there will be PS5 restock dates throughout 2022 – in fact I just reported on the Walmart PS5 and Xbox restock on February 24 – meaning it’ll get easier as demand goes down. However, there are always going to be new customers who want to buy the Sony console from stores like Walmart, Best Buy and Target, which always sell PS5 for MSRP, either $499 for PS5 Disc or $399 for PS5 Digital. We did see an Xbox Series X restock today from GameStop. That console, at least in bundle form, is no longer in demand compared to the PS5.
We may come to a point in which PS5 bundles are not nearly in demand as much. When? The smooth-sailing restock time may be mid-summer 2022. We saw a similar situation in mid-2021. However, inventory of the PlayStation 5 is unlikely to last into Fall 2022 simply because more parents will discover that they need a PS5 for Black Friday 2022 ahead of the Christmas holiday. That’s the pattern we saw last year, too.
PS5 sales in 2023
There’s no PS5 Slim or PS5 Pro on the horizon, and the fact that Sony can’t keep up with current console demand means you shouldn’t expect a redesigned PS5 until a date in late 2023 at the earliest. The PS5 Disc and PS5 Digital Edition consoles remain difficult as it is to get today, and demand will surge when the PSVR 2 pre-order date happens and the PlayStation Plus membership gets revamped.
Reasons for Sony to come out with a PS5 Slim would be to cut costs and speed up production, changes that would be a boon to Sony’s profitable console business that has recently had to cut production forecasts for 2022. Fewer, cheaper parts involved in the making of the PS5 is one perk, but the ultimate advantage would be making the console lighter and smaller, reducing shipping costs and times. That could seriously affect Sony’s bottom line when it comes to PS5 sales.
In 2023, we could see the Sony console sit on store shelves in the US. When it goes from being so popular that it crashes websites like Walmart and GameStop to being moderately popular in that it sells out within an hour or two, that’s when we’ll likely to the console partake in holiday deals events, meaning President’s Day sales 2023. Mark your calendars 365 days from today.