Sony Talks Up PS3 Shipments

But some doubters wonder whether they're all being sold or not.

The difficult birth of the PlayStation 3 is no secret. Sony had only half the promised 400,000 PS3s ready by launch day in the US and there were less than 100,000 sold at the console's debut in Japan. Despite this, Sony was talking big numbers on Sunday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. But there are doubters.

Sony said it shipped - not sold - 1 million PS3s in the US by the end of the year, according to a report by the Associated Press. That's half of the 2 million it said it would have ready worldwide by the end of 2006.

Sony's David Karraker dismissed the success of the rival Xbox 360, which Microsoft said this weekend shipped just over 10 million units by the end of 2006, and the significantly cheaper Wii.

"Are we worried about strong sales of the Wii or Xbox 360? Not really," Karraker told AP. "It was a great year for the industry overall. With the tide all ships rise."

Those dismissive statements come at a time when some people are starting to wonder how well the PS3 is really doing.

A report by ABC News highlights the anecdotal evidence from around the US of PS3s sitting unsold in stores. Several blogs have reported similar supplies in the US and in Japan, where the white-hot DS is king.

Scanning the online sites of major US retailers, Kikizo found some that had PS3s in stock - and not just in expensive bundles.

Many of the first PS3s ended up on auction sites such as eBay, but even there demand there has gone limp. Though some auctions still near $1,000 for the 60 GB model PS3, several auctions during the last week have ended at or below the $600 retail price, suggesting the fever has left the market.

If that were the case, and with so much riding on the success of the PS3, that would be bad news for Sony.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo