Sony may miss PS3 shipment target, say analysts

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Sony Corp. may not reach shipment projections for the Playstation 3, Bloomberg reported on Mon.

The PS3 dropped to U.S. retail on Nov. 17 in $499 and $599 SKUs.

Sony said that it shipped 400,000 units to U.S. retailers for launch.

Multiple analysts predict that fewer than expected units were released to retail stores and expect Sony to deliver from 200,000 to 400,000 in the U.S. by year end, down sharply from the company's goal of 1 million units.

Sony cut its shipment forecast to U.S. and Japan to 2 million units from 4 million due to a delay in the blue laser diode for the PS3's Blu-ray Disc drive.

In the U.S., buyers bombarded retail to purchase the PS3. Many retail stores like Wal-Mart and Target held stock of ten units or less. Best Buy stores advertised a minimum of 26 units and was able to meet or exceed that quantity.

In Japan, the PS3 has sold 81,639 units when it debuted on Nov. 11. Game offerings like Namco Bandai's Ridge Racer 7 and Mobile Suit Gundam: Target ranked in the top ten game sales.