Analyst Deals PS3 Launch Another Blow

Is Sony going to cut by half its shipment numbers this year? One analyst thinks so, and the stock market seems to agree.

Is Sony going to deliver on its launch promises for the PlayStation 3? A lot more people are asking themselves this after an analyst in Japan said Sony would miss its target by a long way, and that sent the company's stock down by 3 percent.

Analyst Masahiko Ishino of Mitsubishi UFJ Securities said on Tuesday that Sony would only sell 3 million PlayStation 3s by the end of March - half of the original estimate, which was based on Sony having 6 million consoles ready by then. The news comes by way of Reuters.

Ishino comments are based on alleged problems Sony is having getting all the parts that go into the console.

It's not known whether the analyst's reaction had anything to do with comments by PlayStation's American boss, Kaz Hirai, to GameSpot, where he implied that Sony would have only 2 million consoles ready by the end of 2006 instead of the 4 million the company has been promising since E3 in May.

Sony reacted quickly to what it called misinterpretation of Hirai's comments in the GameSpot piece. The company repeated its promises of having 2 million PlayStation 3s ready for the worldwide launch in November, another 2 million by the end of the year, and a further 2 million by the end of March.

Hirai also said in the interview with GameSpot that Sony has not yet started making PlayStation 3s, leaving many people to wonder if it will be able to get 2 million made in the next 80 days.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games