It was fairly obvious that the new Xbox would sell out from the day pre-orders opened, but trade paper MCV reports that retailers have been reporting incredibly small stock allocation for Microsoft’s forthcoming Xbox One X console.
Pre-orders for the ‘Scorpio’ edition Xbox One, named after the codename for the console before its official name was revealed, sold out in a matter of hours both online and in stores. A further batch of ‘normal’ Xbox One X consoles were then allocated and sold just as quickly.
Now some details are emerging from retailers over just how few consoles they were promised, with some retailers seeing just 5 consoles allocated to their store from the hundred they originally ordered.
Harvey Eagle, Xbox UK and Ireland Category Director, did tell MCV: “We are seeing very high demand for Xbox One X. We are doing our best to keep up with that demand but unfortunately it is the case that, as with any new console launch, there is always a limited amount of stock available at launch.” reports MCV.
But there are those that think this may point to more of a managed event, with Microsoft and supplier Exertis deliberately managing the stock to create demand. This has been also levelled at Nintendo for its Switch and NES Mini consoles, both of which were in short supply for a year, but the counter-argument is that these companies lose easy money if there are thousands of customers willing to pay for a new console but who can’t find one.
The current situation is this, though; if you haven’t pre-ordered a new Xbox One X, it doesn’t look likely that you’ll get one before Christmas unless you’re willing to pay the huge amounts they’ll no doubt be going for on ebay.
