Best Buy is not the only major game provider discontinuing the sale of the 80GB PlayStation 3. Gamestop/EB Games has now been rumored to be following the same footpath. A reliable source from the employment field has stated that the SKU is now considered deleted and shipments will no longer be arriving. This is the same source that notified the online world that the 20GB model would be discontinued as well, so he seems to be reliable.
Apparently, Gamestop/EB Games has not been receiving shipments of the 80GB since November, yet has still been receiving large shipments of the 40GB unit. Kaizer_911, who happens to be the source, had this to say, “I went ahead and looked in our Back Office Inventory screen and found that the only SKU listed as Active for the PS3 consoles (new ones that is) was the 40GB. The 20, 60, AND 80 GB SKUs were listed as Deleted.”
He says that the database is a company-wide account and that this issue seems to be the start of discontinuing the SKU completely.
*Update: We have contacted Gamestop and found that it is official…Gamestop and EB Games will no longer receive shipments of 80GB PlayStation 3s.