HIGH STREET retailers gave warning yesterday that they would have no Microsoft Xbox 360s on sale on its December 2 launch date, because the manufacturer had not been able to make enough to meet demand.

The severe shortage of the new games console means that parents or gaming aficionados who have not yet placed an advance order will struggle to secure one of the £279.99 gadgets in time for Christmas.

HMV and Woolworths, the second and third-largest computer games retailers, both said that they would have no Xbox 360s available on December 2, while the electronics retailers Dixons and Comet said that stocks were extremely limited.

HMV said: “We have had twice as many pre-orders as we have stock currently. There will be no Xbox 360s for the casual buyer on December 2.”

Woolworth’s said: “We’ve sold out completely; no Xbox 360s will be on sale on the launch date.”

Game, the specialist retailer and market leader, has been unable to guarantee delivery before Christmas since as long ago as August, but it has been holding back a few consoles for the launch date.

Although retailers often exaggerate supply shortages to try to get consumers into their shops, it is unusual for any to tell would-be buyers that they should not bother because they have no stocks left.

Despite a slow build-up to the annual shopping season, consumer electronics are among the fields that remain buoyant. There are also shortages of Apple’s iPod digital music player and Sony’s handheld PlayStation Portable (PSP), but these are nothing as serious as the Xbox 360 problem.

Retailers contacted yesterday said that iPods and PSPs were selling out, but that enough supply was coming through to keep stocks up. As a result, Microsoft’s supply difficulties will be a boon to Sony, which is offering computer gamers an alternative with its £179.99 PSP.

Sony has already sold 400,000 PSPs and is hopeful that it can hit its target of selling one million in the UK by the end of the year. Apple iPods are selling at a rate of at least 40,000 a week.

Microsoft’s problem stems partly from the fact it is trying to launch the Xbox 360 on a near-simultaneous basis worldwide, in an attempt to maintain a lead over Sony, which will unveil its next-generation PlayStation 3 next year. Neil Thompson, Microsoft’s UK director responsible for the games console, said that it would be “hard to find” but the company was trying to secure “regular replenishment”.

In America, where the Xbox 360 was launched this week, retailers were suffering from stock shortages. Demand was such that one youth in North Dakota was robbed of his Xbox 360 on his way out of the store. Microsoft says that it does not expect to match demand and supply until around the middle of next year.

John Clare, chief executive of DSG International, the owner of the Dixons, Currys and PC World chains, said that sales of internet-linked audio items, such as iPods and other MP3 players, were rising in “hundreds of per cents”. He said: “The Xbox 360 — we are pretty certain we are going to sell all that we can get.”

Terry Duddy, chief executive of ARG, the company that owns Argos, said: “There is not a situation where there is lots of free supply. Supplies are inconsistent and these are not the circumstances where if you leave it until the last minute it will be a good idea.”

Retailers had been considering midnight openings of their flagship stores to allow keen buyers to pick up their new Xboxs, but HMV, for example, said that it was unlikely to go ahead because the company did not want to leave people disappointed. Game is planning to open a single store at midnight in Oxford Street in London.

STATE OF PLAY

HMV

PSP: not taking internet orders for Christmas. Short of ordinary PSPs

John Lewis

iPod: expect stocks to be good up to Christmas, except for Nano 4 gig

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