PlayStation 3 Sells Like Cold Cakes, Sony Bosses Reshuffle

More optimistic than many industry analysts, Electronic Arts CEO, Larry Probst said in a recent press summit that Sony had around 200,000 PlayStation 3 consoles available at launch in America - a figure that still only represents half of the 400,000 units previously promised by the Japanese company (and less than a quarter of what was announced before that). Even though EA expected Sony to have less than 400,000 units in retail, they were still surprised by the final results, in a most unpleasant way.

According to the same report published by Reuters, Larry Probst also believes that Sony will release a total of 500,000 to 800,000 PS3 consoles in America this year - a rather vague estimation, but, again, way below the "official predictions" which indicated 1 million consoles available in America by the end of 2006. Oddly enough, Sony have yet to communicate the official sales figures for the period immediately following the November 17 launch, and to adjust their predictions for the current year (surely, they can't meet them as they are now). But even more odd is that, from those cca. 200,000 PS3s, Probst thinks that around 20,000 were re-sold on eBay, for at least double the standard price of $600.

The only official statements released today by Sony are completely avoiding the issue of the PlayStation 3 consoles, as they are announcing several high-profile reshuffles among the company's bosses. Ken Kutaragi, "the father of the PlayStation", is no longer the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, as he now takes the role of company chairman (so he can quietly meditate on where he screwed up with the PS3). In his place, Kaz Hirai, the former boss of the SCE America division, will step up as president of the group, effective tomorrow. And in Kaz Hirai's place, the top spot at SCEA will be given to Jack Tretton (former vice president), who will thus become the first American to lead the Sony Computer Entertainment America division. I guess we should start getting used to that name from now on.

The company also went through a few more top-level changes, after which the SCEI board of directors will include Ken Kutaragi (chairman and group CEO), Akira Sato (vice chairman), Kaz Hirai (president and group COO), Masaru Kato (deputy president and group CFO), David Reeves (deputy president), Howard Stringer, Ryoji Chubachi, Kenshi Manabe and Shigeo Maruyama.

That's just great, now what about those PS3s, gentlemen?

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)