Sony a7S III Orders ‘Greatly Exceeded Expectations,’ Expect Delays

Sony Japan has posted a notice on its website warning that they’re going to have trouble keeping up with demand for the new Sony a7S III. Apparently, and to nobody’s surprise, pre-orders of the camera “greatly exceeded our expectations.”

The announcement, which you can read here (Google translated), doesn’t share any details beyond notifying customers that there will likely be delays and asking them to be patient. Here’s the full statement with a bit of tweaking for clarity:

Notice Regarding Supply of Sony a7S III

Orders of the digital single-lens camera α7S III, which we started accepting on Tuesday, August 4, 2020, have greatly exceeded our expectations, and it may take time to deliver the product.

We will do our best to respond to your requests as much as possible, so please be patient.

The original camera announcement promised shipping would start sometime in September, but given this notice, it sounds like October is more likely. We’ve reached out to Sony to confirm that these delays will affect users in North America and aren’t limited to Japan, and will update this post if and when we hear back.

These sorts of announcements are starting to be pretty common… whether it’s a Nikon lens, the new Canon EOS R5 and R6, or the Sony a7S III, it seems that a combination of pre-release marketing hype and COVID-related production challenges are making it hard for camera makers to predict and keep up with demand for their latest-and-greatest products. Given the financial state of the industry, that’s not a bad problem to have…

UPDATE 8/6/20: A Sony spokesperson responded to our request for confirmation with the following. Hopefully this means most (if not all) pre-orders will be delivered on time:

The customer response has been incredible, and we are experiencing unprecedented demand for this model. We are also expecting to have very strong supply.

The notice you are referencing here is normal practice in Japan when they expect there will be backorders.

(via Sony Alpha Rumors)