As Xbox production costs fall
WHILST ALSO FORCING import specialist
Lik-Sang out of business, Sony has had time to revise the expected Japanese shipment figures for the PS3's launch.
Back in September Sony suggested shipment figures at 400,000 and 100,000 for the US and Japan respectively. Now a report from a Japanese newspaper,
Nikkei Keizai Shimbun, states that Sony has been forced to reduce the Japanese allocation by a further 20 per cent, just 11 days before launch.
To put the 80,000 units in perspective, Sony shipped around 900,000 consoles in Japan, and 400,000 in the US, for the launch of the PS2.
Some are speculating that the drop is to satisfy the American market, at the expense of Sony's home territory. It seems Sony doesn't just dislike Europeans.
The report cites 'component shortages' as the cause of the shortage, the same problem that's been blamed for delaying the launch of the console in Europe until March 2007.
In related games console news, production costs for Microsoft's Xbox 360 video-game console have been falling faster than expected, the company disclosed last week - but consumers will have to wait for any price cutting by the Redmond based outfit.
In relation to the report, a Microsoft spokesman said that the company has "no plans to adjust the price of the Xbox 360 this year."
Even with the reduced costs, Microsoft is still making a loss on each console made. Whilst the PS3 is priced significantly higher and in such short supply, its doubtful Microsoft is in a rush to lose any further margin on the games device. We already reported on any price drop from Microsoft
here, and our guess was late Q1/Q2 2007. It looks like that's still on track.
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