We have looked at a number of retailers in North America, and also online and locally. The story seems to vary by retailer. Some are still accepting pre-orders for one console, but not the other. Still others are accepting pre-orders for both, but it seems that those are becoming few and far between. A number of the big retailers are now telling customers that did not pre-order that it could be doubtful if they are able to get them a unit before the holiday.
Independent retailers that we have spoken with say that they are being allocated systems, but perhaps not in the numbers that they would like. As one independent retailer told us, “I will have enough systems to fill our pre-orders for both consoles on launch day, but right now I am not sure that I am going to get many additional systems beyond those. I want more systems to sell, but right now I can’t get any confirmation that I am going to be able to buy them.”
If you have not placed your confirmed pre-order yet for the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 and you want to make sure that you get a system on launch day, we suggest that you might want to act quickly; it appears that availability continues to tighten and it is starting to become difficult to make sure that you will have a confirmed pre-order for launch day.
