Sony President Ryoji Chubachi: "We're sticking to shipping targets"

Sony Corp. said on Thursday it sees no need to change its target to ship 2 million units of its PlayStation 3 game console worldwide by the end of December and 6 million by the end of next March.

Sony has delayed the European launch of the PS3 to March 2007 due to a glitch in blue laser diodes, raising concerns that the electronics conglomerate could miss its original shipment targets.

"It is true that it took us sometime to bring the PS3 to mass production as blue laser availability worked as a bottleneck, but production has reached a certain level and judging from that level, 2 million and 6 million are within our reach," Sony President Ryoji Chubachi told reporters.

Sony launched the PS3 in November, fighting head-on with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo Co.'s Wii.

[marionz]

sony reps only talk sh1t, and for people like me in New Zealand? hmm we are ment to see ps3 in march but i highly doubt it! oh yes its a xbox christmas here! i have a 360 with kameo and viva pinata under the tree for my mum! ...sony who?

[Maddens Raiders]

glad you posted here first 360 fan. Thanks!

[marionz]

BUT my point is how can they sell 6 million by march when we will only just be getting it then, im sure we will more likely see it by mid 07, oh and sorry if you thought i was attacking your story, i was just shocked that sony made a statement like that considering they have failed to back up anything about the ps3 so far

[Maddens Raiders]

I didn't feel you were attacking the story, as a supporter and investor to the brand, I just like to see my operational arms fighting back and barking; not just folding and aquiescing to outside pressure from naysayers. This is a typical start for a new launch. It's just amazing at how many people (around the world) are interested in the ups and downs of this iconic company. Not unbelievable -- just amazing. Carry on good man.

[UrbanJabroni]

"...ship 2 million units of its PlayStation 3 game console worldwide by the end of December... "

OK, so you'd have to be a _very_ irresponsible executive to confirm these numbers if you didn't have solid evidence that this was true. The fact is, shareholders will (collectively) lose millions and millions of dollars if expectations aren't met.

That said, I think most of us can agree that given the current supply situation and the fast approaching deadline, Sony is going to have to use some very creative definitions of "shipped" to pull this off.

I'm _really_ not bashing here, but the plain fact is they delivered under the original expectation at launch and supply, at least anectodally, does not appear to be replenishing particulary fast. I'm guessing MS knew something specific when they said Sony was going to use "shipped to supplier", which has a 6-8 week turnaround to get to the store shelf.

For their sake I really hope they can (even creatively) meet their numbers. Wall street will NOT be forgiving if they do not, and even more heads will probably roll.

[MicroGamer]

is not the same as having them in users hands. As you said, there will be a 6-8 week period before those units get sold, and then you have the ebay factor to consider, which extends the time many of those units will require to get into the hands of their final owner. In the meantime, however, those units in the pipeline and on ebay represent a loss for Sony as no games or movies will be sold to offset the cost of producing them. I don't see how Sony plans to make a go of it considering they need an attach rate of 30 to break even. Many people don't even buy 30 games for a system for the entire time they own it, and many buy used games and movies, which don't boost the attach rate at all because those games/movies have already been figured in to the average attach rate when they were first sold as new.

[DJ]

Unexpected things happen, and businesses simply try to do the best they can. It's not like they liked having low shipment numbers, or intended to have things turn out that way. If they can ship close to 2 million units by the end of 2006, it'll be a hell of a feat. While there's no telling what will really happen, you can't dock them for trying.

[FordGTGuy]

creating a half-assed console putting everything in it then trying to compete with every part of the market. (Tivo, Microsoft, etc) Then have a press conference the next day talking sh*t then the day after that they retract half of their statements and later on a 1/4 of the half left doesn't even make it to final?

How the hell are they going to ship 2 million when its mid-December and they have only sold 500k world wide?

Sticking and making the targeted numbers are totally different things.

Now one thing I will say is that I'm glad Ken is out of the high chair and they are getting back on the ball. Now if they can get out of the hole they were put in then I would be very impressed. Remember the more competition the better games at lower prices for everyone. ;)

[Grown Folks Talk]

i agree with dj that is not their intention to have so few. at the same time, as i tried to explain before. it doesn't really matter. short is short regardless of the reason why. if someone tells you they are going to do something, but don't because something comes up you feel disappointed. now based on the reason, you may be more or less understanding of why they didn't, but you still wish they did it. the analogy i used before was this. dj tells me he's going to bring me 10 toys for kids in the hospital. while he's at home, his dog chews up 4 of the toys. there is no time to replace them. now it wasn't dj's intention or fault that he only has 6 toys instead of 10, but that's the situation. so A.) you bring the 6 toys you have left and choose who gets them somehow or B.) you "delay" bringing the toys at all until you have enough for everybody. so in the end it's either 10 disappointed people or 4 disappointed people. which do you choose?

[UrbanJabroni]

If they ship 1,999,999 units by Decembar, Wall Street looks at this as a fail, and share prices will drop substantially. Unfortunately for Sony, even if they hit 2,000,000, if MS or Sony posts higher-than-expected numbers, Sony shares will also take a hit.

The key point here is that Sony has literally hitched the company and shareholder success on a single product...which is a terrifying idea for any company regardless of the product.

[videl]

yeah sony is on track! i think xbots will not like that, like you can see in the posts, looosers.

[bababrooks]

WORLDWIDE by end December you think Sony is on track, last i heard Europe launch was delayed until March?

[original seed]

release the actual figures just like launch. It just sucks for Sony fans in the end when ONCE AGAIN they get dissapointed.

[InMyOpinion]

Sony fanboys never get disappointed, they always find excuses to go around it.

[THAMMER1]

They have 17 days to go from around 450,000 to 2,000,000. It is not impossible but it is unlikely.

WAITB3OND

[wildcat]

Ha, funny and true man. That made me chuckle.

[Maldread]

I can`t really see it happening, and i would be suprised if Sony pull it off to be honest, I think mayby 1.000.000-1.250.000 would be more realistic, given Sonys recent and previous numbers. But i definatly hope they make it.

[super bill]

i love it more sony [email protected] there,s always something wrong with that company and the lies they say.us 360 fans love this site they should rename it the sony lie site.by the way it will not be a lost if the ps3 never comes to britain.the console war is already won in the uk so sony are wating there time launch the ps3 in the uk.

[kingboy]

Go hurt yourself if it makes u feel bad lol!sony fans should be the ones complaining about this not xbox

[testerg35]

At first they said they are on track for 1mil by end of year and now 2mil? They really are shooting themselves... 1 mil was already hard enough to swallow considering there's less than 3 weeks left to get 1.6mil or so out the door.

And, DJ, even if its a target number, that's what shareholders will end up expecting.

[Marriot VP]

They promised 4 million by the end of the year. 2 million at launch and 2 million before the end of the year to a total of 4 million.

Obviosly getting anywhere beyond 1 million now is hard to believe. Sure they could reach 1 million by the end of 2006, but I'm not gonna expect it.

[THWIP]

Can MS sell ANOTHER 1 million consoles, before Sony even sells it's FIRST?! Stay tuned to find out! :p

[super bill]

i love that the ps3 has fail already and you spent all that cash on a secand rate console.the war over the 360 already won.i know the truth hurts but you have to take it like a boy or is that kingboy.360 rules long live the KING.

[THWIP]

"Sony launched the PS3 in November, fighting head-on with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo Co.'s Wii."

If you think an 8-million unit deficit to the 360, and a 1.3 million deficit to Wii, "head-to-head", you're in denial. Sony's going head-to-ass (their own), and that's about it.

[DJ]

were from anti-Sony individuals and 360 owners. I'm still wondering why 360 fans are so hateful and so angry against a company and a product that they have absolutely no intentions of supporting.

I mean, look at this BS: "i love that the ps3 has fail already and you spent all that cash on a secand rate console.the war over the 360 already won.i know the truth hurts but you have to take it like a boy"

That was in response to Sony simply stating "We hope to have larger shipment rates." Something's definitely wrong with these people. They act like Sony stole their cars and burned their houses down. Come on, it's consumer electronics. How fanatical can you get? Unless of course they're being paid by Microsoft to be here. Microsoft has done worse, so I can only imagine, especially since I have not met a single gamer in real life who acts the way they do. Spewing falsified specs out their ass, crying and whining about how Sony lied to them and they wish Sony would die, blah blah blah. It goes on and on.

Damn, I'd hate to see how they talk about Sports teams or Car brands.

[ACE]

ur bs sounds like u , just that BS .

[testerg35]

Everything Sony says is the gospel truth to all the Sony fans...

[PS360PCROCKS]

Um...they have shipped somewhere between 375,000-500,000 and their going to triple that in two weeks? uh yea ok Sony, your not going to magically manufacture atleast 1.5 million consoles. Think about it people, Microsoft last month just shipped it's 10 millionth console, in 11 MONTHS! 11 MONTHS! And Sony is going to ship 1.5 Million in 2 weeks? Thats a joke, my god, yea they can ship it, but those boxes will be empty, they can't manufacture them that quickly