The Sony Shortage of 2009

The PlayStation has been around since the early 1990’s is one of the most recognizable gaming devices on the market since it first started being produced. They sold millions of devices through varies upgrades of the product. In 2006 the makers started to manufacture and produce the PlayStation 3 (PS3). This product has plenty of different factors that could be taken into account when determining the supply and demand curve.

In June 2009, Sony, the producers of the PlayStation, announced that there was a shortage of PlayStations. This had never been a concern for neither side of the markets. The buyers never thought the gaming counsel would sell out when searching for their own gaming device and neither did the sellers. The shortage was a surprise to almost everyone.  Most individuals thought they would be able to buy a PS3 as they wish. Due to Sony not producing enough PS3 consoles to adequately meet the demand of PS3 shoppers, they ended up having a shortage.

Sony did not take into the account all of the determinants that go in to shifting the demand curve. One of the determinants is based on related goods. There are two types of related goods (substitutes or compliments). The substitutes for Sony’s PS3, Windows Xbox and Nintendo’s Wii, were both raising their prices. In this case, those buyers switched over to Sony’s PS3 over their preference. Another reason for this shortage was due to the compliments of the product. They had scheduled several big game releases that would come out around that time. A few of these games were “Uncharted 2,” and “God of War”. Both of these reasons were major roles in the shift the demand curve. In this case, Sony should have manufactured more goods to fulfill the supply and demand curve.

In this figure it shows the supply is decreasing so the demand is increasing. The price of the PS3 is going for less money on alternate selling sources (for used consoles). This is a direct effect from Sony not releasing enough consoles for the holiday season.  Since the supply (of consoles) is decreasing, the price will increase on websites such as Craigslist, and EBay because no retail stores will have them until more shipments come in.

Figure 1: Supply Curve

This graph describes how the PlayStation 3 supply is increasing due to the holiday season, PlayStation 3 gaming systems are on sale. Since the price is decreasing, the quantity sold will increase. When the price increases then the demand for the consoles will decrease because people know that they would have got the PS3 for cheaper during the holidays, vice versa.

Figure 2: Demand curve

Works Cited

1. “AmosWEB Is Economics: Encyclonomic WEB*pedia.” AmosWEB Is Economics: Encyclonomic WEB*pedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.
2. “Is There a PlayStation3 Shortage?” SciTechBlog Is There a PlayStation3 Shortage Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.