Sony to miss PS3 production mark again?

Stan Beer
Saturday, 21 October 2006 18:40

Your IT - Home IT

Sony has reportedly indicated that it may once again have to reduce its PlayStation 3 shipment targets for 2006 and the first quarter of 2007 and once again Blu-ray is the culprit.

According to a Bloomberg report, a Blu-ray parts shortage may cause Sony to fall short of its targets of 2 million PS3 units shipped by the end of 2006 and 6 million by March 2007.

The US and Japan will see the release of the premium priced PS3 in November and only those markets are scheduled to receive shipments in 2006. Europe and the rest of the world will not see PS3 on store shelves until March 2007.

The Bloomberg report quotes Jack Tretton, co-chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment America,as saying the figures were "more of a target" and admitting that Sony had production issues.

Some analysts are saying that PS3 is going to be a hard sell against the much cheaper Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii over the end of year holiday season. However, there are unlikely to be enough PS3 in stores to fill demand in the short term, so it will be difficult to gauge the success of the platform until late 2007.