Is PS3 production better than we think?

[Redrider]

Today PS3 portal is quoting a Sony source in Asia as saying the Sony now plans to launch the PS3 in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Despite production concerns Sony have said that they will now be releasing PlayStation 3 in Honk Kong and Taiwan on November 17th along side the North America launch.

Less than a week ago a story in a Japanese newspaper (unconfirmed by Sony) said that due to component shortages (again speculation about know BD diode issues) that the Japanese launch would be reduced by 20K units. I’m sure this threw a number of people into a tailspin as implications could have impacted the N/A launch numbers and post launch availability on a global basis.

Since that story there is been no response from Sony with the exception of a SCEA spokesperson saying that this will not effect the N/A lunch numbers.

Even if they launch the PS3 in very small numbers in these newly announced markets, you just got to wonder how well production is really going as we all know the legendary Sony secrecy about their products good or bad.

http://www.ps3portal.com/sony/article/523.html

 

[EazyDuz]

Theres always a PS3 at the end of the tunnel....

 

[YoungMullah88]

well they took out 20,000 units from the japanese launch. just speculating

 

[Redrider]

[QUOTE="CH!3F, post: 0]well they took out 20,000 units from the japanese launch. just speculating[/quote]

If this was true why are they talking about new market launches on the 17th? :shock:

 

[mone]

[QUOTE="CH!3F, post: 0]well they took out 20,000 units from the japanese launch. just speculating[/QUOTE]

Thats what I'm speucalting as well. If the speculation is correct, Japan gets in the nads again from their own company. Sony can ship to Asia faster then to us, so I shouldn't be surpised. Also, Asia is usualy grouped with Japan as far as release dates go. The rest of asia may get a game or console 1 or 2 days later or eariler, depending on who is doing it. So, PS3s for the rest of asia this quickly isn't surpising at all.

 

[Redrider]

Considering that this could piss off a lot of people on a global basis IMO I don’t think this announcement was made without some careful consideration and info we do not have. We all need to remember that the production to market cycle time for this product is very short in the APAC market.

 

[Loudninja]

Hmm how very odd,I ownder what is going on?

 

[Deldwen]

strange..... but great gooooo sony!!!!

 

[vdo]

The article does say that Nintendo so far has no launch schedule for Taiwan, so maybe Sony thinks it is smart to get some units over there while there is not yet competition from Wii.

 

[soul-sama]

if sony's in better shape than we think, then I have to say they're absolutely dumb. they're getting a lot of negative press, so anything good would be healthy for them, to say the least. Day by day more people are getting turned off by the system. If they have an ace, they should have already delt it.

To conclude my gist, I have to say that no, Sony's in the shape we think they're in, if not worse. Sorry for being a negative nancy, but lets just stick to the facts, please?

 

[majinvegeta]

As some others have pointed out, I think that the 20k dissappearing from Japans launch was on purpose, to maybe give some to Taiwan and Hong Kong I guess??

And hey, the 400k wasnt something they were strict on, it was a TARGET. So yea, maybe they were able to improve it to the point where they might have more than the target! which is awesome, that way they can provide more consoles for launch.

 

[Carl]

The article does say that Nintendo so far has no launch schedule for Taiwan, so maybe Sony thinks it is smart to get some units over there while there is not yet competition from Wii.

Yeah thats probably it. They want people to get the PS3 before the Wii is released there - so they can sell more units there.

But whats the point in sending some to Asia - they couldnt ship some over here for us instead :| lol

 

[Redrider]

[QUOTE="majinvegeta, post: 0]As some others have pointed out, I think that the 20k dissappearing from Japans launch was on purpose, to maybe give some to Taiwan and Hong Kong I guess??

And hey, the 400k wasnt something they were strict on, it was a TARGET. So yea, maybe they were able to improve it to the point where they might have more than the target! which is awesome, that way they can provide more consoles for launch.[/quote]

IMO the Japanese newspaper that broke the 20K shortage for the Japan launch had a source that was less than credible because this story was not picked up by any other source in Japan and Sony did not confirm it. Sony will need to get as many units out in Japan as they possibly can because the Wii is positioned to give the PS3 a real challenge and this is a major market for them.

 

[mone]

[QUOTE="Redrider, post: 0]IMO the Japanese newspaper that broke the 20K shortage for the Japan launch had a source that was less than credible because this story was not picked up by any other source in Japan and Sony did not confirm it. Sony will need to get as many units out in Japan as they possibly can because the Wii is positioned to give the PS3 a real challenge and this is a major market for them. [/QUOTE]

100k isn't any better then 80k. So rather if it true or not, the Japanese are still geting jipped.

 

[demonhunter]

or maybe they just lied about there orignal numbers, to increase hype

 

[Redrider]

[QUOTE="mone, post: 0]100k isn't any better then 80k. So rather if it true or not, the Japanese are still geting jipped.[/quote]

Because the time from the production lines to the stores is so short for them they could have more throughout the entire launch week. If Sony hits the 1M per month production target that means the will have 250K coming off the lines every week.

 

[mone]

[QUOTE="Redrider, post: 0]Because the time from the production lines to the stores is so short for them they could have more throughout the entire launch week. If Sony hits the 1M per month production target that means the will have 250K coming off the lines every week. [/QUOTE]

who says sony can make 250k a week though? Thats a 1million in a month for one region alone.It doens't matter how fast they can deliver them to the stores, if they can't make good production levels to meet high demand, it's meanignless.

 

[yrcd2420]

i mean how does anyone know how many units REALLY will available at launch..........how do people actually prve it i mean Sony can just be lying and they could ship like 2mill units at launch who knows?>

 

[Carsonal]

If they launch in Hong Kong and Thaiwan, they're just opening themselves up to a broader audience.
I think it wouldnt be a bad idea but if they took away 20 thousand from Japan to do it, that might make the Japanese a little bit cranky.

 

[Redrider]

[QUOTE="mone, post: 0]who says sony can make 250k a week though? Thats a 1million in a month for one region alone.It doens't matter how fast they can deliver them to the stores, if they can't make good production levels to meet high demand, it's meanignless.[/quote]

Several times Sony has announced that it is “targeting” 1M units of production (total) per month. Now how is to say that they did not start limited production in late September or early in October? To those that think Sony may lie about shipping numbers please remember that they are a publicly traded company. Please note that Blu Ray diode shortages is now a story that dates back to august and Sony has affirmed their “target” shipping number again and again.

 

[hisame]

From sources SOny is doing a Region 1 launch at Nov 11~17.
So that includes Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South east asia, US and Canada.
And US+Cnada is getting 70% of the production since they are the main battle field.
Japan was 10% but sony decided to drop it further to 8% since asia market has more potential then Japan.

 

[abogado.perro]

[QUOTE="yrcd2420, post: 0]i mean how does anyone know how many units REALLY will available at launch..........how do people actually prve it i mean Sony can just be lying and they could ship like 2mill units at launch who knows?>[/QUOTE]

Uhhhhh no.

As a public company, Sony must actually honestly disclose its financial statements, complete with fairly specific information as to what were the sources of its income. Not only would a failure to disclose the actual units shipped for the current console (in 10K/10Q) be a ridiculous oversight noticed by investors (and definitely a violation of the law), but savvy institutional investors can figure out pretty quickly from the financials just how many units Sony probably shipped (at least to see the difference between 400k and 2 million).

Oh yeah, and any Sony executive who knowingly misstated final shipment numbers could be liable for criminal penalities. Just a note really.

 

[Lefein]

Boy, if Sony somehow manages to crack the Chinese market open later on this generation then even a 1% attachment rate over there would mean some big money for them..

In light of that, it makes sense for Sony to make a 20,000 unit gamble on that market. They can test the waters at the full launch price and slowly bleed units into the market until the hardware gets cheaper to manufacture. It's kind of the same as what they are doing around the world, although I suspect that by the time the European launch rolls around that Sony will have their own diode facility running at full tilt. It should be up and running by late December according to some estimates.

 

[Spike1977UK]

Just another kick to the EU / PAL LANDs.

Shame on Sony in my eye's and yet Lefein's comment is a good point.

 

[cirrus]

Excellent point as always, Lefein.

 

[taylor910]

How many are expected to be available in the U.S.?

 

[blois]

[QUOTE="Lefein, post: 0]Boy, if Sony somehow manages to crack the Chinese market open later on this generation then even a 1% attachment rate over there would mean some big money for them..

[/QUOTE]

1% of Chinese population, makes 13 millions. And we already know that a higher middle class is growing fast there (about 50 millions, averaging over 9000$ income/year, in 2002).

Btw, didn't Nintendo entered this market already ?

 

[neorecon]

I wouldn't be surprised if they were being conservative on the numbers. It's always better PR to say, hey, we were able to make more than we projected, than to say oops, we didn't meet our 'target' numbers.

 

[Origin]

They've been quiet about production. So we'll find out right before launch probably.

 

[Fr0st]

wouldn't be surprised if they were being conservative on the numbers. It's always better PR to say, hey, we were able to make more than we projected, than to say oops, we didn't meet our 'target' numbers.

I would agree with this. A general rule of thumb in business is.. Under Promise, Over Deliver.