Production expectations of Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 3 console dropped last week after Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced that consumers from Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and parts of Southern Asia must wait longer for the console than Japanese and American consumers.
Those awaiting the PS3 launch in these regions must import systems if they desire to play them before March 2007. This will cause Sony to miss the rush of holiday shopping, a crucial period in entertainment sales.
In a press conference Wednesday, Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi apologized to consumers for the delay, though he remained assured that the postponement would not do permanent damage to PS3 sales.
The delay, caused by a shortage of Blu-Ray laser components essential to console production, came just as Sony announced a significant reduction in projected shipments in the United States and Japan. The company’s original assessment predicted the launch of about two million consoles in the two nations, but after delays Sony has changed the number to 500,000, with the U.S. getting about 400,000 while Japan will receive the remainder. In comparison, the PS2 launch saw around 500,000 units in the U.S. and about one million in Japan.
The projected shipment of consoles by the end of 2006 also received a reduction with an estimated two million consoles instead of the original four million.
This setback has not caused any visible distress on the part of Sony Computer Entertainment executives as the original estimate of six million consoles by March 2007 remains intact.
The announcement follows various other hiccups in PS3 production, including a six-month delay that caused the system to launch a full year after its principal competition, the Xbox360, and a complete reworking of the controller that ended up in six-axis tilt functionality at the expense of a rumble feature.
In America, the PS3 launch date remains set for Nov. 17 and, as with the Xbox360, will see two versions of the console: a high-end version with a 60 gigabyte hard drive that will be priced at $600 and a reduced, 20 gigabyte hard drive version priced at $500 and lacking wireless Internet capability, a memory card reader and HDMI output that allows full HDTV performance from Blu-Ray discs.
The PS3’s debut will be met with competition due to its close launch proximity to Nintendo’s newest endeavor, the Wii, which Nintendo has promised will have no more than a $250 price tag. The exact date of launch for the Wii has not been announced, though fall 2006 is the known release quarter.