Sony Struggles to Hit PS3 Target

Component shortages weigh heavily on Sony during the opening months of its console's life.

PlayStation boss Ken Kutaragi made a lot of outrageous statements in the run-up to the launch of the PS3, including that people should be willing to work harder to afford one. Now that Kaz Hirai has taken over Kutaragi's job, it looks as if he's picking up where his predecessor left off.

Hirai was in Las Vegas this week for the annual Consumer Electronics Show. Speaking about the hardships in launching the PS3, Hirai glossed over Microsoft's global launch of the Xbox 360 at the end of 2005 while simultaneously fingering Sony's technological aspirations as the real reason for the delay - all in one comment.

"A worldwide launch for any console is quite ambitious," Hirai told Blu-ray Today, as reported by IGN. "In fact, it has never been done before. I suppose if we had simply done a mild upgrade to the PS2 and not pushed the envelope so hard, it would have been easier on ourselves. However, if we did that every time, we wouldn't be Sony."

But that decision to focus on the highest of technology has cost Sony. The company sold just 90,000 PS3s at the console's debut in Japan, and the US launch saw another 200,000 - half of what Sony had promised.

Sony said at CES this week that it had managed to ship 1 million PS3s in the US, but the company fell short of its self-imposed target of 2 million shipped worldwide in 2006. Japanese publisher Enterbrain, via a Reuters report, said this week that the PS3 sold less than 470,000 units in Japan by the end of the year - half of what the Wii sold there.

What's not clear is whether Sony would have been able to sell more PS3s if it had them. Reports from the US and Japan suggest that the PS3 has been on hand in stores during the early weeks of 2007 rather than selling out as Sony would have people believe.

Meanwhile Europeans, slighted by the component shortage that brought down launch numbers of the PS3, are looking forward to the launch of the console, which Sony has confirmed will happen this March.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo