PS3 Shipments Even Less Than Revised Estimates

news via gwn

Shipments at launch were down 50% according to new reports. Will Sony be left behind?

According to many online publications, the number of PS3s Sony were able to ship on launch day was far less than their already reduced number of 400,000. According to one site, the number of systems they actually shipped to stores was less than 50% of this number, which means less than 200,000 consoles were available on the 17th.

At the current rate of production, some sources are speculating that Sony may not meet their end-of-year targets, and could in fact produce fewer than 400,000 consoles by new year.

Production difficulties for the PS3 are the direct result of placing two new technologies in the console. Namely, these are the Cell processor and the Blu-ray disc drive. Reports state that:

* Approximately 10% of Cell Processors that come off the assembly line are usable (compared to 70%-90% for most other processors)
* All the Blu-ray diodes (laser that reads the disk) have all been diverted to the PS3 because of their inability to manufacture them fast enough.
* Less than half the stores asked by Bloomberg Online said they had enough PS3's to fill just their preorders.

No doubt Microsoft and Nintendo will pick up a lot of sales this Christmas from gamers who want a new system, but are unable to source a PS3. Nintendo are in an especially good position to capitalize on Sony's production issues, as their Wii console has enjoyed considerable success thus far and is not plagued by any of the production issues as the PS3.

Will the ps3 shipments come in time, or will sony be left behind?