PlayStation 3 Launch Shipments Slashed
Europe spared scramble for botched manufacture scraps.
You remember how two days ago we were all eagerly awaiting the launch of the PlayStation 3? It was going to be great, wasn't it? A global launch in early November seeing 2 million units on day one. What a difference a day (or two) makes.
Following yesterday's news that The European release of the PS3 was rudely pushed back until March 2007, it turns out that even with pre-orders at every gaming store in the UK, your chances of getting one would have been almost nil anyway.
Speaking to assembled reporters in Tokyo, Sony Computer Entertainment Chief Ken Kutaragi said, "We decided to focus on the Japanese and U.S. markets. I am so sorry not to be able to answer to all the expectations." In addition, Kutaragi outlined how the initial shipment of PlayStation 3 units was hacked to 500,000 units, broken down to 100,000 for Japan and 400,000 for the US. Kutaragi stated he expected to get another 1.5 million units into the market by Christmas, and then repeated the increasingly unlikely projection of shipping out six million hardware sets by March 2007.
A glimmer of hope - or at least the pewter lining to a rather threatening-looking dark cloud - was Kutaragi's estimation that Europe would see a release in early March.
Following yesterday's news that The European release of the PS3 was rudely pushed back until March 2007, it turns out that even with pre-orders at every gaming store in the UK, your chances of getting one would have been almost nil anyway.
Speaking to assembled reporters in Tokyo, Sony Computer Entertainment Chief Ken Kutaragi said, "We decided to focus on the Japanese and U.S. markets. I am so sorry not to be able to answer to all the expectations." In addition, Kutaragi outlined how the initial shipment of PlayStation 3 units was hacked to 500,000 units, broken down to 100,000 for Japan and 400,000 for the US. Kutaragi stated he expected to get another 1.5 million units into the market by Christmas, and then repeated the increasingly unlikely projection of shipping out six million hardware sets by March 2007.
A glimmer of hope - or at least the pewter lining to a rather threatening-looking dark cloud - was Kutaragi's estimation that Europe would see a release in early March.
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Comments
YenRug 7 Sep 2006 12:42
1/9
OK, there's a simple reason why Sony have allocated 400,000 PS3's, for the US launch, and it will be typical Sony BS. When MS launched the 360, they pretty much evenly split their systems across all three regions, this meant they only had 360,000 Xbox 360's for the US launch; anyone see where this is going?
Come the end of the week, following 17th November, Sony will send out their press release stating how successful their launch was; they completely sold out and did better than Microsoft, when they launched their system last year. It's probably down to the appalling Japan sales, of the 360, that Japan has then only got 100,000, because they'll be able to claim they out-performed MS there, too.
So, who wants to take the bet?
Come the end of the week, following 17th November, Sony will send out their press release stating how successful their launch was; they completely sold out and did better than Microsoft, when they launched their system last year. It's probably down to the appalling Japan sales, of the 360, that Japan has then only got 100,000, because they'll be able to claim they out-performed MS there, too.
So, who wants to take the bet?
SCiARA 7 Sep 2006 12:58
2/9
very good point, Sont didnt get where they are by being fair. PS2 and dreamcast springs to mind
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config 7 Sep 2006 15:38
3/9
Does any corporate?
SCiARA 7 Sep 2006 15:45
4/9
M$ of course!! cant be fairer than them
i seem to remember early sega master system and nintendo nes days being fair (towards eachother this is). But then again i was young!
i seem to remember early sega master system and nintendo nes days being fair (towards eachother this is). But then again i was young!
config 7 Sep 2006 15:57
5/9
SCiARA wrote:
M$ of course!! cant be fairer than them
I'll take that as sarcasm.
i seem to remember early sega master system and nintendo nes days being fair (towards eachother this is). But then again i was young!
Can't say for sure - wasn't into consoles back then - but I'm pretty sure N got upto some shady behaviour back in the day.
Can anyone confirm/ellaborate on this?
RiseFromYourGrave 7 Sep 2006 21:07
6/9
pretty sure they had those sordid exclusivity deals with big developers that sony love so much. y'know cash payoffs to stifle the competition
thane_jaw 8 Sep 2006 08:35
7/9
config wrote:
i seem to remember early sega master system and nintendo nes days being fair (towards eachother this is). But then again i was young!
Can't say for sure - wasn't into consoles back then - but I'm pretty sure N got upto some shady behaviour back in the day.
Can anyone confirm/ellaborate on this?
I watched a money program which suggested that Nintendo knowingly sold software which caused epileptic fits. It was kinda debunked by ninty fans.
You do of course have those classic ad campaigns "Sega does what Nintendon't" and that breakout one for the Amiga 32 (I think that's what it was called) which they plonked right outside Sega HQ London which was "To be this good would take Sega ages".
SCiARA 8 Sep 2006 08:51
8/9
I heard about that Nintendo one but i cant honestly believe they would do that intentionally
And as for the adds, hell that’s still done today and is (should) be taken as light hearted humor. I love it when companies do that to each other! It humanises them a little.
As for the PS2 and dreamcast - Sony kept on telling everyone to wait for the PS2 as it will be better, more powerful and better games... Unfortunately the majority of people did even though it was an inferior machine with an inferior line up of games. Shame really
And as for the adds, hell that’s still done today and is (should) be taken as light hearted humor. I love it when companies do that to each other! It humanises them a little.
As for the PS2 and dreamcast - Sony kept on telling everyone to wait for the PS2 as it will be better, more powerful and better games... Unfortunately the majority of people did even though it was an inferior machine with an inferior line up of games. Shame really
YenRug 8 Sep 2006 12:40
9/9
Been a while, but I'll see if I can remember the gist of what Nintendo got in trouble for:
The main thing was price-fixing, not what the comsumer paid, but what the retailer paid. At that time, in Europe, Nintendo didn't have their own distribution channels so they worked in partnership with several companies spread across the UK and the Continent. Each company was, unofficially, contracted to sell each game at a fixed price, no matter what the local economy would have dictated, for where that particular company was based. This meant that a UK retailer couldn't go to, say, the supplier based in Germany to get a better price than what the UK supplier was willing to offer. This is in breach of European competition laws, so Nintendo and their suppliers all got hit with fines, though the suppliers tried to plead that they had no choice and the situation was forced on them by Nintendo.
The main thing was price-fixing, not what the comsumer paid, but what the retailer paid. At that time, in Europe, Nintendo didn't have their own distribution channels so they worked in partnership with several companies spread across the UK and the Continent. Each company was, unofficially, contracted to sell each game at a fixed price, no matter what the local economy would have dictated, for where that particular company was based. This meant that a UK retailer couldn't go to, say, the supplier based in Germany to get a better price than what the UK supplier was willing to offer. This is in breach of European competition laws, so Nintendo and their suppliers all got hit with fines, though the suppliers tried to plead that they had no choice and the situation was forced on them by Nintendo.