Posted Wed Sep 6, 2006 at 11:12 AM PDT by
Sony will now ship an expected 2 million units total in the U.S. and Japan when the player launches on November 17, down from 4 million the company promised back in May. The reduced shipments will affect both the $499 and more feature-laden $599 models of the next-gen console.
Apparently confirming the rumors of fourth-quarter delays in Blu-ray-driven products that had begun swirling last week, Sony said the limited supply of the PS3 is due to shortages of the blue lasers for the device's internal Blu-ray drive.
Plans have also been scrapped for the planned simultaneous European debut of the next-gen game console, which has now been postponed to March 2007. However, Sony says it still expects to ship 6 million players worldwide by March despite the delay.
The head of Sony’s game unit, Ken Kutaragi, made the announcement in Tokyo after the close of the Tokyo stock market.
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