The Sony a1 II Shortage Worsens as Amazon Cancels Pre-Orders

Up until last week, Amazon was accepting pre-orders for the next round of Sony a1 II that were slated to be delivered by mid-May. Yesterday, the online retailer canceled all orders for the camera, telling customers that it was doing so “due to a lack of availability.”

A PetaPixel reader has been in contact regarding the delayed availability of Sony’s latest flagship camera for some time. On March 27, they received an email from Amazon that assured them the camera was about to ship and that it was scheduled to arrive between April 14 and May 5.

Unfortunately, this did not last.

“I received an email today (April 3) from Amazon canceling my order altogether, citing the reason as, ‘Due to a lack of availability, we will not be able to obtain the following item from your order. We’ve canceled the item and apologize for the inconvenience.’ I called customer support and they could not offer any other reasons, nor could I reorder the camera as they took down the option to order only leaving the $9,856 refurbished cameras available. This also means I lost my place in line for a camera that I have been waiting for five months now.”

At the time of publication, no refurbished or used cameras were listed for the a1 II and Amazon has removed the camera from its search results entirely. Navigating to the product page directly shows it listed as “currently unavailable” with the note, “We don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock.” Other outlets have reported similar cancellations with other customers.

There are two possible factors impacting Amazon’s decision. The first shouldn’t come as a surprise: Sony is having difficulty fulfilling the demand for the a1 II.

Last month, PetaPixel reported price scalping for the a1 II due to its lack of availability. While the camera is already expensive at $6,500, it was being offered on Amazon for nearly $10,000 — and selling.

“We can’t deliver enough of them,” Sony’s Masaaki Oshima, Head of Imaging Entertainment Business Unit at Sony told PetaPixel at CP+ in late February. “Professional photographers love our evolution from the original Alpha 1 to the Alpha 1 Mark II.”

While Sony didn’t confirm on the record, its partnerships with global press organizations such as Gannett/USA Today, The Canadian Press, The PA Media Group, and Reuters likely saw a large number of a1 II bodies set aside. Beyond that, Sony Professional Services would also need to keep a large stock of the camera on hand for repairs and loaners to professionals.

Another factor that can’t be ignored is the heavy tariffs that are about to be imposed by Donald Trump. On Wednesday, Trump announced a sweeping series of tariffs that include Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, and China — all hubs of manufacturing and distribution for Japanese camera companies. Japan specifically will be hit with a 24% tariff while Thailand — home of Sony’s main camera factory — will be hit with a massive 36% tariff.

Amazon has a pre-order price guarantee, meaning it might have been stuck holding the bill for the large price increase if it didn’t cancel the orders. Since it’s not responsible for maintaining that guarantee if the order is canceled, that would explain why it did not simply roll over the pre-order when the effects of Trump’s tariffs take effect.

B&H Photo still lists the camera for pre-order at the original price but the company doesn’t have the same pricing guarantee.

As reported by The Verge, the tariffs won’t have an immediate effect on pricing for many tech products since there is current inventory in the United States. However, some products like the Sony a1 II are in such high demand that there is no existing inventory. It wouldn’t be unexpected to see Amazon adjusting its business accordingly for these types of products so it’s not left losing money on sales. In no world is Amazon going to suffer a loss for a price increase: it will pass that on to the customer.

Due to time zone differences, Sony did not respond to a request for comment.