E-Reader Shortage Is Latest Sony Misstep

Another holiday season, another supply-and-demand problem for Sony. The beleaguered brand is revamping its marketing strategy, but a multimillion-dollar ad campaign can’t solve a product shortage that turns away customers who are dying to give you their money.

In 2000, it was the PlayStation 2. In 2005, the PlayStation Portable. In 2006, the PlayStation 3. This year, it’s the Sony e-Reader that many people want, but few will be able to get in time for the holidays. Once again, the Wall Street Journal notes, Sony failed to navigate “the difficulties of forecasting orders and coordinating a supply chain that includes component makers, manufacturing services and others.”

These shortages fuel conspiracy theories that Sony and Nintendo, whose Wii supplies seem to run short every year, simply pull back on production to create hype. But while having a product so in-demand that people will (literally) fight for it might boost the brand’s cachet, does it help the bottom line when said product – whether it’s Wiis or waffles – is out of stock? The risk is that disappointed and mall-weary shoppers mayget angry at the brand – and sometimes go with a competitor.

One of the Sony e-Reader competitors in the making-paper-obsolete industry, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, is experiencing similar problems, but expects (i.e., hopes) the latest orders will arrive by Christmas. (This was after promising shipping dates of December 7, amended to December 11, then the 18th.)

Sony is not making any delivery-date guarantees. Douglas A. Mcintyre, writing on the 24/7 Wall Street blog, warns that “Sony is risking what could be as many as a few hundred thousand sales by not being able to guarantee shipment of its product before Christmas.” Mcintyre predicts that Sony “will only add to its own history of disappointing customers.”

Meanwhile, Amazon, whose revamped Kindle forged an early lead in the wireless reading-device race, has apparently learned from its own past supply woes: the green letters on its product page say “In Stock” and a spokesman shared with the Journal four words sure to frustrate Sony management:

Available for immediate shipment.