PlayStation Portal expected in stock today, as Sony's deadline looms
PlayStation Portal expected in stock today, as Sony's deadline looms
The countdown to Sony's PlayStation Portal PS5 remote player is on, as the company officially stated it would have a 'stock' update in early December
Update: PlayStation Direct and Walmart had a PlayStation Portal restock on the same day this past week – December 15 – nearly fulfilling Sony’s self-imposed deadline. There was a promise that PlayStation Portal would be in stock in “early December,” according to Sony, and while it was a day later than anyone would call early December, is happened for the $199 price.
But we’ll see this PS5 remote player in stock again, and there’s a good chance you may be able to snag the PlayStation Portal before Christmas.
How to get it? Follow my PlayStation Portal restock Twitter tracker – follow and turn on notifications – to get real-time alerts when it’s in stock
PlayStation Portal restock stores we’re tracking
PlayStation Portal at Walmart (sometimes goes to a blank page or show a higher price temporarily, but this is the secret link to check daily for it at $199)
The PlayStation Portal has been in stock at three stores in the US recently: Walmart, PlayStation Direct and Amazon. All of them have sold out of the PS5 remote player within a few minutes if not second. Best Buy and Target have been doing regional PlayStation Portal restocks, meaning it may pop up on their respective websites, but it’s local drops only. Usually Target stores only have a few in the back room to sell online, so the PS Portal goes quickly.
As we’ve explained in-depth in news from early last week, we knew that PlayStation Portal was scheduled to be in stock by “early December.” We based this information on more than just the official words from the PlayStation company – it was also the fact that Sony hasn’t had the PS Portal remote player in stock since the PS5 accessory launched on November 15. So the timing – days before Christmas – seemed to be happening right at the cutoff for Sony’s shipping deadline, too.
What’s interesting is that Sony shifted its shipping deadline to December 18, 2023 at 2pm ET (the cut off was previously earlier). This may be because PlayStation Portal wasn’t going to be in stock until December 15. Now a bunch of people – many of our followers who bought PlayStation Portal – will be able have it in time for Christmas.
PlayStation Portal demand rises in the US
US retailers contacted by The Shortcut don’t have the PlayStation Portal inventory to keep up with consumer demand. It’s similar to the situation stores found themselves in when going through the PS5 restock crisis in 2000, 2021 and 2022. It’s finally easier to find the PS5 and PS5 Slim in stock.
That means hundreds of thousands of people are all clamoring for what my US retail sources tell me will be “a few thousand PlayStation Portal units at each store.” Sony has also not supplied retail stores with enough PlayStation Earbuds for PS5.
So far the demand for that has outstripped supply in the US only (the earbuds appear to be in stock in the UK, for example). To make matters worse, the only native way to get wireless audio out of the PlayStation Portal handheld is to pair them with Sony’s PlayStation Pulse Explore earbuds. The PlayStation Portal doesn’t have Bluetooth.
PlayStation Portal costs $199, not a penny more
With PlayStation Portal currently out of stock this weekend, third-party resellers have begun to take advantage of the situation. This is straight out of the playbook of the PS5 restock.
Stores like Walmart and Amazon allow small retailers to resell items on their product pages. That’s fine normally, but, when an item is out of stock and highly in-demand it appears as if a Walmart or other retailers are selling the PlayStation Portal for an inflating price. This has lead the PlayStation Portal price to go from $199 to double in many cases, according to our reporting.
We’ve tested PlayStation Portal for hours and it’s not worth a penny more than that, especially because it doesn’t always work well when using an outside WiFi connection. Sometimes even on your home WiFi it’ll be buggy, according to our tests. It’s very much a remote player and not a full portable PS5, as many confused consumers seem to think.
The Shortcut will continue to track PlayStation Portal on Twitter, and offer speedy notification alerts when the PS5 accessory is in fact in stock.