I predict that the geeks will riot...

[gerbick]

Well, at least speculate.

At least one analyst has publicly stated that Sony is nowhere near its earlier stated goal of 400,000 PS3 units for the U.S. launch, raising the possibility that it may be very difficult to locate an available console when it arrives on Friday.

Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian said those who did not preorder the PS3 might not be able to locate an available system. "We expect Sony to deliver 150-200k units to stores in the United States for the launch," he wrote in a note to clients.

Add this to news from GameStop and EB Games earlier in the week that they would be unable to fulfill the amount of pre-orders they took, and it adds up to a lot of unhappy gamers come Friday morning.

"We are beginning to notify our customers that our initial shipment of PS3 systems will not be what we expected," a company representative told gaming news site GameSpot. "As this is not an ideal situation, we are asking employees to wait to purchase systems until the second shipment. We are anticipating having systems to cover reservations before Christmas."

News reports also indicate that companies such as Best Buy are apparently taking advantage of the shortages by offering those waiting in line a special deal on the Xbox 360. While a leaked internal document has confirmed such an arrangement, Best Buy has publicly denied its existence.

Such meager numbers for the U.S. launch also hurt the PS3s total sales domestically. Sebastian said his firm now only expects about 750,000 consoles to ship by the end of the year. He painted a much different picture for the Wii, however.

"We expect a more robust launch from Nintendo, with at least 1.2 million units sold in the US and up to four million units shipped worldwide by year end," Sebastian wrote.

In any case, he said that console sales would not necessarily equate to significantly increased software sales until the new consoles reach "critical mass" sometime early next year.

Yep. Sony will be the cause for the fall of man. Nostradamus predicted it... somewhere.

He will enter Europe wearing a blue turban.
He will be the terror of mankind.
Never more horror.
- Nostradamus

By "blue turban", he really meant to say Blu-Ray... watch. End o' world ya'll.

[j_hunter182]

How NOT to launch a product 2.0

This isn't just damaging their US market, I can't see this reflecting well on the March '07 *cough* launch in Europe. By the time PS3 launches here I'll probably have a 360 and a Wii because of Sony's incompetence.

[hurricaneone]

I still say that this, rather than M$'s Zune, is the model of how not launch a product.

Zune is just badly designed. I get the impression the PS3 is a great product, perhaps even over-engineered. And that wasn't taken into account when the accountants insisted they get it out of the door.

[gerbick]

The Taiwan branch of Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong has announced day one PS3 shipment figures for the territory, according to a report on DigiTimes.com.

Taiwan will get 500 60GB PlayStation 3 units on launch day, November 17. Of that allocation, 150 consoles will go on sale at a special launch event in downtown Taipei.

The remaining 350 units will be divided equally amongst outlets including electronics retail chain Tsann Kuen, Fnac branches and Sony's own franchise stores.

As previously announced, the 60GB PS3 will retail in Taiwan for TW$17,980 (EUR 425). The 20GB version, which won't go on sale until December, will cost TW$14,980 (EUR 355). Sony is aiming to sell 1 million PlayStation 3 units within Hong Kong and Taiwan.

500 consoles... in Taiwan. OUCH...

[Visionray]

I don't get it, why don't they have enough? Are they trying to create some kind of fake "demand" by limiting the number of consoles shipped? As we saw with the 360, that strategy doesn't really work, it just pisses people off. The only people that win are the ones who will be selling them on Ebay for $1,500.

[hurricaneone]

No way they're limiting units to this degree as a marketing stunt.

These numbers make moon rocks look common.

I reckon this is all they have, for whatever reason.

[Odisey]

Wait a minute here......... Did anyone subscribe to this thread? If you did, please post my reply from a cut and paste in your email alert. I did an edit and lost my original//// ODC

[Subway]

Blue lasers ... and some idiots are now selling blue laser pointers using the same diodes, taking away even more of them.

Fredi

[Genesis F5]

Ouch, Odisey. All you had to do was hit the "last post" button and it would have recovered it.

I can't wait for tomorrow.

[Damaso]

My buddy and I went to BestBuy lastnight looking for a harddrive, and to our surprised we saw numbers of geeks in front of the store sitting and lying down with there sleeping bags with outside temperature under 50 degrees. Trying not to laugh, I asked the first person closest to the door entrance, "What's the deal?" He proudly replied, "We're ps3 boyscouts!"

I guess it has become a new tradition. What's next?

I gotta admit I'm desperately wanting to have one of those ps3, but it doesn't make any difference getting it today nor tomorrow.

[Genesis F5]

I especially wouldn't want one now considering Sony's admitting that they want to take that extra emulation chip out. I'll wait until they come out with the slimline PS3. I hate that rounded top. Wii is the only console that makes sense as far as being a practical part of an entertainment system. It's small footprint alone would make it appealing enough for me to buy it.

I wonder when PS2 prices will go down. Sony's been pretty strict about keeping the price at $129 and above. Probably not for a while yet since the PS3 is by no means ready to take over.

[Subway]

The PS2 is still outselling the Xbox 360 everywhere, so don't expect a lower price in the next months.

Fredi

[Odisey]

Does anyone have stats on SONY – initial sales stats of new products such as this?

It looks like a marketing//advertising tool to me – just prior to the Holiday piranhas meat eating frenzy.

It seems to me the Geeks in from of Best Buy will get it and email the world that they godda have one to, “Na Na ---- Na Na --- Naaaaaa ….!”

Chatter about a product – a scarce and highly sought after product – raises interest among other groups in ear and eye shot.

New Holiday song concept [Deep man’s voice – Perry Como sound alike singing lead – Girls singing Do-Whop backup] Hit it!!!

Good bye Elmo hello Sony
Though you couldn’t have one,
Now we know -- Santa says that’s all bologna

Bla Bla Blaaa

I can hear Santa Clause now in Malls across the country – world, “What do you want for Christmas little boy, “You know what I want! I told you last night in Wal-Mart!” Oh a SONY PS….. Bla BLa…”

(1) innovators,
Chatter – increased sales
(2) early adopters,
Chatter – increased sales
(3) early majority,
Chatter – increased sales
(4) late majority, and
Chatter – increased sales
(5) laggards.

SONY will loose no sales – they will probably gain millions…

[Odisey]

Ouch, Odisey. All you had to do was hit the "last post" button and it would have recovered it.

I can't wait for tomorrow.

I can't see the button!

[Genesis F5]

Scroll down to the "quick reply" section in this thread and there's a button right above the message text box that says "LastPost"

[Odisey]

Thanks Genesis F5 - now I know.


You know this is the Elmo generation. America is breeding the market piranha. These people will fight for it -- sleep in the rain waiting for it -- pull it outta of a little old lady's hands in front of the cash register to have it, and pay huge amounts of money for it -- just because of the ideology

"I gotta have it -- I just gotta have it! I want it I want it I want it!"

[Genesis F5]

Oh goodness, don't get me started on the TMX frenzy. It's been going on for a while with Beanie Babies, Furbys, and now Elmos. It's a shame that a great deal of consumers can't turn a blind to hype. It just encourages companies to put less Q&A into their product so they can shove it down the throats of the consumer even faster.

[Subway]

If you thought shacking up outside of a Best Buy in near-freezing temperatures (say, Ann Arbor, Michigan) for nearly two weeks is hardcore, imagine how folks waiting in Lexington, Kentucky felt when a drive-by shooter let the pellets fly into a group of PS3 hopefuls. Apparently bitter and distraught from not getting their name on a (shaky) pre-order list, enraged suspects drove by a Best Buy on Nicholasville Road and "injured four people with BB pellets," including a news reporter who was conducting an interview with one of the campers. Although none of the folks were seriously injured, we can't help but wonder who pulls off a drive-by shooting with cameras rolling, and moreover, did the "mildly wounded" individuals waiting in line forfeit their position to visit a hospital? The soldier in us says negative.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/16/p...ucky-best-buy/



Fredi

[PAlexC]

I don't think Sony had a choice but to rush to market. The 360 has been out what, a year now? The Wii is here for the holidays, the PSP was getting its ass handed to it, and PS2 titles are slowing down.

[jAQUAN]

I love how you saved your darkest prediction until launch-eve gerbick.

CNN is still reporting 400k units. hehe. I'm feeling a bit of the buzz but only for the first time. That right there tells me it's not for me.

So basically we all saw this from day one. I'd like to see some quotes from the first ps3 argume... er.. discussions. They bit off more than the parts industry could bare. Over designed a system that couldn't meet its price point. Provided a scary learning curve for its third parties and is pushed a proprietary technology that the rest of the industry doesn't support. WTG sony. bravo.