Sony Talks PS3 Production Problems
Phil Harrison admits that Sony was guilty of overreaching in its PlayStation 3 production strategy.
Candid admissions are not the sort of thing you expect from company executives on the eve of the launch of their new hardware, but that hasn't stopped Sony's Phil Harrison from copping to flaws in Sony's path to war with the PlayStation 3.
"We have overreached in production of the Blu-ray component - I can't deny that," Harrison said in an interview at GamesIndustry.biz.
The Sony exec was talking about the shortage of the blue laser diode of the Blu-ray drive that ultimately forced Sony to lower the number of PlayStation 3s it would ship in the US and Japan and pushed back the European launch altogether.
But, that said, Harrison is confident that despite the surging Xbox 360, which Microsoft expects will be in 10 million homes worldwide by the end of the year, this is just a bump in the road for Sony's new console.
"There's no denying that we've had some very public challenges," Harrison said. "Today, it looks like a very difficult situation - but in the weeks, months and years to come, this will pale into zero."
History sides with Harrison. The PlayStation 2 also had severe shortages when it debut in 2000 and it went on to sell over 100 million units. The hardware situation is, however, very different now than it was at the turn of the millennium.
Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo
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