Will Sony be able to produce as many disc drives as they do PlayStation 5 Pros?

[Hulk1988]

Hello,

Today, I tried to purchase a disc drive in advance for the upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro, but they are sold out across all of Europe. The only ones I could find are from scalpers, priced between 160 and 200 euros.

This is very concerning! Many players have a library of PlayStation 5 disc editions, and they won't be able to play their games on the new console if they can't purchase a disc drive. Based on the experience from the PS5 release, scalpers will likely buy them all up for weeks or months, leaving the only option to pay double or triple the original price.

Do you think Sony will be able to produce enough disc drives for the PS5 Pro launch? I'm not so sure. I do not think so.

 

[NextGen]

Yeah, without a problem. Most people buy digital games these days and it's not like everyone buying a Pro will get the disc drive.

 

[brawndolicious]

I imagine the number in stock was low so they just sold out immediately. Also, scalpers may have hoarded them.

I wouldn't worry about disk drive production rate failing to keep up with demand.

 

[Dan Thunder]

Launch might be a struggle as the drive is for two machines and not just the Pro model.

 

[CloseTalker]

People are way overthinking why these things are selling out. The disc drive up until a week ago was probably one of their worst selling devices, because realistically if you wanted a disc drive you'd just get the ps5 with the disc drive. So they probably just didn't make many of the things, and them selling out likely doesn't equate to very high numbers.

they'll make more because they know they'll sell more. It just Takes time for supply to get moving

 

[Strings]

With how high the margin is on the disc drives lol?

 

[psynergyadept]

Yes; demand is just high right now it'll even out in a couple of months.

 

[Brat-Sampson]

It's scalpers, lol. The market of people desperate for a Pro is probably going to be smaller / less exploitable than Pro owners desperate for a drive.

 

[Gibordep]

The question is if they want to produce it..

 

[bananas]

Will Sony continue to sell their $20 disc drive for 4x markup? We reached out to a Sony rep who was lighting a cigar with a couple $100 bills he set on fire.

 

[skeezx]

haven't looked for one because i'm still waffling over the Pro, but i expecting remainder of this year to fairly well into the next they'll be fairly hard to come by

 

[Teenage Fansub]

They definitely won't make as many as the console. I'm sure they're counting on a lot of people just switching to digital.

 

[theCioro]

I dont think 1:1 parity is the target especially since a lot of people have a digital library.
Keep in mind though that detachable disc is sold for PS5Pro and PS5Slim! So not only the Pro console players will go after it.
Also, scalpers..

Will Sony continue to sell their $20 disc drive for 4x markup? We reached out to a Sony rep who was lighting a cigar with a couple $100 bills he set on fire.

Click to shrink...

I got one from a Sony listed partner for ~140 euros.... There are 2 in my country that sell it and both had the same price.

 

[You know who I am]

I think it's a matter of time for Sony to release a version of the PS5 Pro with the disc drive integrated as well. I don't think it will take more than next year's holidays season.

 

[player23]

I think the Pro is just a driver for the external optical drive - pretty smart Sony

 

[NewDust]

These are the same drives that they already put on a console, so yes. Day 1 might be problematic in the same way online games have day 1 issues due to demand. Should even out pretty quickly.

 

[Flygon]

The question is will they? I admit it's conspiratorially minded, but I do wonder if they'll intentionally choke the supply of drives to try and force push stragglers onto the digital-only aspect of their console economy.

 

[Yesterzine]

The question is will they? I admit it's conspiratorially minded, but I do wonder if they'll intentionally choke the supply of drives to try and force push stragglers onto the digital-only aspect of their console economy.

Click to shrink...

It's quite the balancing act isn't it? The disc drive probably makes more $ per unit profit than the console, but also they would very much like disc drives to be extinct.

 

[PapaJustify]

They don't need to. As the majority of PS5 Pro owners probably won't need a disc drive.

 

[DontHateTheBacon]

Absolutely. They won't need to produce some insane number of PS5 Pros.

 

[Dust]

They could produce less to push people towards digital but that would be getting a bit into conspiracy stuff 😅

 

[Lowrys]

I think it's a matter of time for Sony to release a version of the PS5 Pro with the disc drive integrated as well. I don't think it will take more than next year's holidays season.

Click to shrink...

I don't think there's any chance of this. They want an all digital future and are moving towards that. The Pro is a step forward on that journey. They won't take a step back.

 

[WitchKing]

They will never aim for 1:1, so many users are digital only.

 

[AM_LIGHT]

People are way overthinking why these things are selling out. The disc drive up until a week ago was probably one of their worst selling devices, because realistically if you wanted a disc drive you'd just get the ps5 with the disc drive. So they probably just didn't make many of the things, and them selling out likely doesn't equate to very high numbers.

they'll make more because they know they'll sell more. It just Takes time for supply to get moving

Click to shrink...

I don't know. Never underestimate corporate greed. They may intentionally produce less to force people going digital. They should have at least announced there will a ps5 pro bundle with a disc drive so people don't have to get gouged looking for one before the pro is out .

 

[AdamKoy]

Scalpers and people like me who bought one as soon as the rumor was confirmed. Supply should increase soon after release I would hope.

 

[Lucreto]

I expect there will be a bundle option when the preorders begin.

 

[EagleClaw]

I expect there will be a bundle option when the preorders begin.

Click to shrink...

It would be weird if they wouldn't offer a disc drive for extra bucks at preorder.

 

[Ikarus]

One less for me. Been digital only for forever. I'm sure I'm not alone. It's a minority of players who would need them.

 

[Stat]

Yes; demand is just high right now it'll even out in a couple of months.

Click to shrink...

The replacement dual sense edge sticks have not soldout in Canada for like 9 months now.

I had to buy some from a scalper on eBay. I don't know if I have faith in Sony to keep up tbh

 

[klauskpm]

I don't think so. Have they produced the same amount of drives as base digital and slim units?

 

[Pai Pai Master]

They don't need to. Most users are all digital.

 

[Qwark]

They'll definitely be producing a lot more. It might be tough to get one at Pro launch, but they need these for both Pro and Digital so they're going to restock, don't give in to scalpers. I'm not sure if they'll match Pro numbers, but probably as I think Digital is going to sell a lot more anyway.

 

[bitcloudrzr]

They don't need to. Most users are all digital.

Click to shrink...

If there ever was a time to push more users to digital, this would be it.

 

[Doskoi Panda]

It's not a matter of being able. They just won't. Not that they should, but yeah.

 

[Zerpette]

I'm another 100% digital user who won't be getting a disc drive with their Pro.

 

[vio55555]

Hello,

Today, I tried to purchase a disc drive in advance for the upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro, but they are sold out across all of Europe. The only ones I could find are from scalpers, priced between 160 and 200 euros.

This is very concerning! Many players have a library of PlayStation 5 disc editions, and they won't be able to play their games on the new console if they can't purchase a disc drive. Based on the experience from the PS5 release, scalpers will likely buy them all up for weeks or months, leaving the only option to pay double or triple the original price.

Do you think Sony will be able to produce enough disc drives for the PS5 Pro launch? I'm not so sure. I do not think so.

Click to shrink...

They probably only need disc drives for around 25-30% of the number of PS5 Pros at most.

So the numbers won't be all that daunting. Lifetime could be around say 10 million, and they'd probably only need 2.5-3 million disc drives (if that, the number could be as low as 20-25%) and that won't include people that already have disc drives that plan to get PS5 Pros.

And at launch it's not like the numbers will be too crazy.

Plus this could push more people to go all digital in which case they'd need less again.

 

[TitanicFall]

Might be tough to get at a traditional retailer during the launch window, but I suspect you'll be able to get them from Playstation Direct.

 

[WandererJ]

Sony must have some stupid high margin on those, so yes, of course they will.

Don't give it to the scalpers.

 

[joeblow]

I was going to get the drive in advance after the Pro was announced, but I'll wait. Even with a day-one PS5 Pro to replace my OG edition, I would only use the drive to watch 4K movie discs.

All my console games have been digital since the mid-PS3 era lol (and way before that on PC), so I can wait for Sony to restock the drives even if it is after launch.

 

[Kenseiden]

A Pro is useless to me without a disc drive. Digital games are up to 40% more expensive than physical ones in Australia, so without access to my discs the Pro is a giant paperweight.