It doesn’t seem to me Sony’s in a position to brag just yet, but that’s not stopping company officials from doing so.
The ink’s not even dry on word that the European debut of the PlayStation 3 would be delayed, but the folks at Sony are already talking up the impending American launch.
SCEI president Ken Kutaragi has announced that 400,000 PS3’s will be ready on Day One, or Nov. 17. And Sony’s new American PR guru, Dave Karraker, has already gotten on a soapbox to brag about the numbers.
He’s been quoted as saying “The North American number is just below what we had available at launch for PS2 and is higher than what Microsoft had for Xbox 360. More importantly, in my mind, is that we will have 1 to 1.2 million units available by December 31 in North America."
Karraker pointed out the figure’s more than double of the Xbox 360’s sales during that period, but he’s not really comparing apples to apples here either.
Microsoft pulled off a mostly global launch for its console and managed to sell a reported 500,000 units in Europe during its initial launch window. It was a bumpy launch, no doubt, but it covered more ground than Sony’s looking at.
Whether Sony can pull off its target or not remains to be seen. If production’s not started yet, it’s my guess those consoles will have all kinds of issues, similar to the Xbox 360 glitches at the start. And, this might be the case even if production has started.
Furthermore, by shuffling the launch numbers solely to the U.S., Sony seems to be telling gamers in Europe their cash just doesn't matter. It might be a good move allocation wise, but it's a lousy PR move.
What amazes me is that Sony officials would even attempt boasts after the European announcement. The egos at that company must be huge.
Related:
PS3 European Launch Delayed
Microsoft Not Gloating Much
PS3, Sony's Strategy Is Flawed
PS3 Shortages Possible
Xbox 360 Shortages To Continue
Reports of Crashing Xbox 360's
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