Michael Pachter believes Sony is most likely behind the shortage

Jul 4, 2014 09:48 GMT  ·  By

Sony might be up to something, as many gamers are reporting shortages of their handheld console, the PlayStation Vita across the United States.

The shortages cannot be attributed to a high demand, as a sudden surge in sales cannot be tied to any recent events or to some high-profile game that would drive the request up. Furthermore, it cannot be attributed to some supply chain issues, as problems with manufacturers or component shortages would also manifest on a global scale, and it is not the case.

"I think it is exceedingly unlikely that demand has spiked, and am not familiar with any killer games that recently launched that could spur demand. That means that the shortages must be supply driven, meaning that demand is constant (and weak), and supply has declined," Michael Pachter, a well-known games industry analyst, tells GameSpot.

"The most likely reason for the shortage is that they want to replace the existing unit with something different, and they weren't ready to announce it at E3. It is possible that they have found a way to make the Vita more cheaply, and are thus able to cut price further. I think their comment about 'continued momentum leading into the holidays' suggests that they intend to keep the Vita alive, and think it is probably just a new model coming that caused the disruption," he explains.

The PlayStation Vita underwent a recent redesign in May, and the new hardware was correlated to a slight bump in sales for Sony's handheld, and it is highly improbable that the company plans another hardware revision.

The truth may be as innocuous as Sony replacing one of the internal chips or some other similar hardware component with a cheaper version or one that is produced more efficiently, something that would translate into a restart of the manufacturing process, but would not be apparent from a cosmetic design point of view.

Sony's execs promised continued support for the Vita, and although they announced that there would be less and less first-party support for the handheld in the future, they opened up the flood gates for indie developers to provide a more varied array of titles when it comes to the Vita's library.

In addition to this, the Vita didn't have much standalone moments during Sony's press conference event at E3 2014, and the company seems to be considering altering the system's focus in order to better complement the PlayStation 4 through remote play. Sony also refrained from discounting the rumors regarding an alleged PS Vita and PS4 bundle popping up in the future.

Sony has made no comments regarding the PlayStation Vita's disappearance from store shelves, so we're just going to have to wait and see whether the company is indeed up to something or if the handheld's lack of availability is nothing but a temporary hiccup.