The PS5 Stock situation in the UK appears to be slowly improving as GamesIndustry.biz reports month on month sales growth for the system. Following a real lack of availability from January through to March, the console showed signs of improvement in April, and now May represents the PS5's best selling month so far in 2022. Sales have jumped by 10 per cent compared to April.
Although the PS5 still sits third in the overall hardware sales table for 2022, this is almost entirely due to the lack of stock. Anecdotally, we've also heard of potential buyers having an easier time securing a console of their own. When you bundle in Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X|S sales, 106,000 consoles were sold in the month of May. That's a 16 per cent increase compared to April.
Comparatively, sales of Nintendo's hybrid device were down three per cent in May, while Xbox Series X|S shifted more units to record a 58 per cent sales increase month on month. When Sony shared its latest financial report last month, it predicted PS5 console availability would improve, with total shipments forecasted at 18 million for the year. In the short term, at least, the prediction is certainly ringing true.
Did you manage to secure a PS5 last month? Share your experience in the comments below.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 19
So the ps5 being on top for both April and May is a very good sign and shows what happens when they actually have stock.
Yet there's still people saying the switch would still be on top even if the ps5 didn't have stock issues, yet this proves otherwise
@UltimateOtaku91 not... exactly. One month is not enough to draw such a conclusion. If something is constantly out of stock and one who wants to buy it at some point and sees that it's in stock, they're more likely to purchase it immediately for fear of missing their chance to buy it. In order to be able to tell with certainty, we'd need ps5 to be constantly readily available. Till then. Who knows?
@paulbuck1996 Nice to hear someone else say it.
Ive seen all generations from zero upwards and owned just about every system thriugh the years.
Though there have been a few systems that will always stay large in my memory (my hand held pc engine was one), the ps5 is fast becoming my fave of all so far. Its quite, has a great looking os that gets the job done (always room for improvement) and its just served up some of the best games ive ever played. Im looking at my series x as I type this, but just dont feel the same about it. Maybe its because I use seriesx as a GP only machine... whatever the reason, its hardly been used this year and not switched on once in the last month. The PS5 feeks like one of the familly, but my series x doesn't yet.... so strange.
My poor dusty switch is a fogetten cousin, hoping that one day ill need gaming on the move again... 😉
Happy to see where this gen leads..
@naruball Agreed. Until we are no longer supply constrained and all systems are readily available we can't draw any such conclusions.
Still Sony has built a powerful brand over the years. That sort of recognition and brand loyalty is strong and takes a long time, or a disaster, to fade. I'd still expect to see PS5 comfortably in the lead this gen vs Xbox overall but especially in UK, Asia and ROW. USA is anyone's guess at this point, likely to be very close, or even a slight Xbox win once the dust has settled.
Though it's worth remembering hardware sales are no longer an Apples to Apples race with Xbox branching out far more to PC, mobile and, more slowly any platform you can stream games. Boxes sold is a less important metric than it once was.
Personally glad it's a much tighter race this gen though, competition breeds excellence and innovation which is good for us the consumer.
@paulbuck1996 @Titntin Agreed. PS5 has jumped right up to the top of the pile of consoles I've owned. In no small part due to the SSD. Virtual elimination of load times is wonderful and makes going back to any disc or hard drive system almost unbearable.
It's worth noting the XSX is not far behind for me. Each have a few benefits over the other but ultimately I prefer the speed, elegance and minimalism of the UI on PS5 over Xbox. Xbox UI is in many ways is a little more full featured having come straight from the XBO, but is a bit of a mess with it too, would have preferred a fresh slate. YMMV but they are two really great systems separated by very little IMO.
@Titntin I concur. Really happy with both PS5 and XSX but I've now ended my GP subscription which has rendered my £450 box plus additional controller as basically an expensive paper weight while the PS5 gets all the attention with a huge backlog to get through.
Obviously I'll get back to GP in a couple of years or so once the library improves however it is a very strange situation to be in. Without GP i'd be buying Xbox exclusives but can't see the point while GP is there. This is also true now for PS5. Haven't bought a game for 6 months. Really want GT7 but won't buy it as it will end up on a subscription service soon enough. I'm starting to feel this generation is changing my gaming habits. Last gen I would have already bought GT7 and HFW but now I'm patiently waiting.
Seems just at a glance that a lot more PS5s are out there in the wild now. I was able to get one a year ago because I used multiple Twitter stock alert accounts so I could get an early warning. Even then it took a fair few attempts. And of course most people aren't going to do that because they have better things to do then check their phone every 5 minutes then quickly jump on a retail site.
That's fantastic to hear that ps5 stock has improved quite abit and that more people that really want one have more chance of buying one,I got lucky and had mine since launch and haven't looked back,the ssd has made a huge difference to how more enjoyable gaming had become ,nothing is ever perfect but loading times with gt7 are 3 or 4 seconds compared to probably 30 to 40 seconds on ps4 for example and we still early on with this gen but the dualsense as well ,the quietness of the fan ,I loved my ps4 pro it was absolutely great backed up with fantastic games but the ps5 is on another planet and we haven't really seen what it's truly capable of as yet a truly wonderful console in my opinion and hope everybody that wants one gets one
In The Netherlands I also see a rise in PS5 consoles. Sure they are gone quick but they at least are sort of available after the drought.
I really hope ps5 prices start dropping soon. It's almost impossible to find one for less than 800 euros right now and it's just way too expensive for a lot of people
@StonyKL dont blame you for waiting, but thats the key difference for me. 1st party titles will not release day 1 on ps, but they do on xbox. This means I don't buy anything on xbox, but im happy to splash the cash on the ps titles I want.
Ive played both hfw and gt7 and theyy are both exceptional titles, and im more than happy to have paid for them, even if they end up on the sub service in a few months 😁
Hope you get then soon though so you can enjoy them yourself!
@UltimateOtaku91 Not sure what you’re referring to. Even though stock improved, PS5 was still in third in May. Still good that stock is improving.
@awp69 ps5 was top in the UK for April and May, but third overall for the year so far
@UltimateOtaku91 Guess I’m confused since I don’t see that anywhere in the article and wasn’t sure since Xbox had such a huge jump.
@awp69 https://www.aroged.com/2022/05/31/ps5-is-the-best-selling-console-in-the-uk-in-may-nintendo-switch-dominates-in-2022/
Hopefully this is the start of the end of the chip shortage(knowing SONY's luck something else will happen to ruin things)
@StonyKL My habits changed last gen when games started being patched heavily after release, not just with fixes but with added features and DLC. It generally makes sense to wait at least 6 months for MOST games.
Even a relatively polished game like Horizon: Forbidden West which I played Day 1 with no major issues is only now 4 months later getting some major patches with 40fps and other modes still to come soon.
Generally I refuse to pay the most amount of money for the worst version of the game.
However I differ with you on PS and Xbox. With Game Pass first party games come day one, whereas the top games aren't likely to join PS++ (Extra) for at least 2 years if not longer once the service starts rolling properly. A few might come earlier but I expect them to be the minority. While I'm happy to wait for some games I might not have bought anyway, i'm unlikely to wait 2+ years for the ones I really want to play.
Seen a few for sale in Game and Currys - the HFW pack. Always in the packs though - if I ever want a PS5 I'll get a disc version with an extra controller and the charging dock. I don't want to be forced to buy a T-shirt, an over-priced game and headphones with it!
Still can't get excited about the PS5 at the moment as the Pro's handling 95% of all the PS releases without complaint. The 5 (or is it 6 now?) PS5 games aren't really of interest.
@themightyant very well said. I couldn't agree more.
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