PS3 Assembly Starts End of September, Most High-End

GameDailyBiz is reporting that Sony has announced further details on the PS3 assembly process. Final assembly will apparently begin at the end of this month, with some 400K units planned for the November 17th launch. They're promising another 800,000 units by the end of the year. From that article: "Although Sony will have shipped only 2.4 million units worldwide in 2006 (as opposed to their initial forecast of 4 million), the company still believes it will hit its goal of 6 million shipped through next March. Sony said that monthly PS3 production will be ramped up to 1.2 million units in January when the Blu-ray laser supplies are expected to improve." Gamespot has further analysis, stating that the split will be about 80/20, favoring the higher-end model over the lower-end model. That is, most of the units at launch should be the $600 model with the HDMI port.

Comments

Doubt $600

[phalse phace]

I'm guessing more in the range of $700-$800 because retailers will probably force bundled packages on us like they did with the XBOX 360 when it came out. And more likely so since this will be coming out right at the start of the holiday shopping season. It's going to be on many peoples shopping lists and people will pay those prices because someone on their list will be wanting one.

Re:20/80?

[k_187]

it makes Sony an extra $100. I'd imagine that's what's most important about it.

Lots of reasons why to build more premiums

[jchenx]

If Wikipedia is right and by the end of 2006 only ten percent of American's TVs are expected to be HDTVs, wouldn't it be wiser to switch those numbers around and have 20% high end, 80% "low" end? Is Japan's HDTV adaption rate really that much more than the US'? Am I missing something about what the $600 version offers that makes it much more interesting than the $500 besides the HDMI port?

The premium version also boasts a larger hard-drive.

The 80/20 convention is still probably the right idea, since it's the early adopters that are most willing to buy a console at launch. They're probably much more likely to own an HDTV, over the general public. Furthermore, even if they don't have an HDTV, the mindset of an early adopter is to "future-proof" themselves and get the console with the most features, even if they may not use them all yet. It may be costly to upgrade later. And finally, there's the general fanboy opinion that the core version of any console is the "sucky one" and anyone who got suckered into buying is a "n00b". So there's that to consider as well.

In fact, one of the complaints with the 360 launch is that there were too many Core systems created, instead of Premium ones. People were very much willing to fork over the extra $100 for the Premium one (especially since it had an HD and the Core did not), but were forced to get the Core. It's never a good thing when you force your customers to spend less than they want to.

Wait a minute

[RyoShin]

Final assembly will apparently begin at the end of this month, with some 400K units planned for the November 17th launch.

That... that doesn't seem right...

In an extraordinary public statement of regret and despair over having to postpone his company's PlayStation 3 debut in Europe and Australia until March, and to limit availability elsewhere to only 500,000 units come November[...] (Source)

Uh oh.

Either someone has their numbers wrong, or Sony is planning to have an extra 100K units available by the end of November. Either way, this means there will be even less units than recently stated, which was also less units than previously promised.

Sony should just hurry up and use a shotgun on their foot instead of a pistol. At least, if they are shipping more units in November but after launch, this is better than the 360, where they didn't send out additional shipments for a few weeks after initial release.

Re:20/80?

[KeiichiMorisato]

Expandability?
That's what we should avoid with consoles. You cannot have two standards for the same console, as the developers will then develop for the lowest common denominator to ensure maximum compatibility. By branching out, something will end up like an add-on and fade away. That's why most add-ons fail, because you can't guarantee everyone will have one, and therefore publishers are afraid they can't get the sales volume they are looking for. People don't buy consoles so they have to add on items to play, and of the games that do require an add-on, most of them, fail to live up to their potential in sales and acceptance.

As for futureproofing, that's a fallacy in buying technology. Standards and new technology are introduced so fast, that buying for the future and spending a premium on it is silly. Just think back, two years ago, stores were pushing HDTVs as "buying for the future", and people had to pay over $6000-$7000 CDN for a 42" Plasma with DVI. Yet that TV would just sit there, displaying Standard Definition, sometimes EDTV, and rarely HDTV for most of the time and not using it's full potential. Now a 42" Plasma HDTV with HDMI can be had for $2500-$3000CDN and at least now, a person can enjoy some of their channels in HDTV. So what did the person paying an additional $3000 2 years ago get? No use of the HD, DVI standard being replaced by HDMI, etc...

Re:Ebay vendors are drooling...

[Overzeetop]

Sorry, it's really a haves vs have-nots kind of hate. Instead of the company setting their intended price, and letting random chance settle in for those to try and get the "hot" holiday item, most of the supply will likely be intercepted via greased palmes and back room deals. Or people buying 10 or 20 of them for the sole purpose of scalping them on ebay.

PS3 doesn't affect me, 'cause I'm not a gamer, nor is anyone in my family. It's the lack of respect and consideration for your fellow man that drives me insane. I'm not religious, but I do believe that you should treat everyone fairly, as you would like to be treated. This practice strikes at the heart of what is utterly wrong with modern society - that the need for the quick buck will trump human decency in almost every case.

I believe that it is this type of market that causes an overall increase in the unhealty stress that pervades the population and leads to a general decline in attitude, interpersonal communication, and mental and physical health.

Now, that's a lot of shit to heap on Ebay, but it's not just ebay (though, in all honesty, they probably deserve it). The attitude pervades human society, and (as game theory will show) having this cancer - even in small quantities - will cause it to spread.

I swear, it's not hate. It's frustration. Maybe if I didn't have kids it would be different. If I wan't leaving someone behind it would be much easier to just let the whole world go to hell in a handbasket. Screw the global warming nuts. To hell with keeping corporations in check. Who really gives a fuck anyway? When I'm gone, eveyone elses useless, undisciplined, lazy, ungreatful spawn can fight it out after I'm dead. 'Cept now I've got a dog in that fight, and I'm much more inclined for it to not be a bar room brawl.

*shrug* It's not about ebay, it's about the culture. I think it's bad for society; you might think this is a positive. It's just my opinion.