Sony's current woes continue this month and it has its new Blu-ray technology to thank for it. Within the past week, the company with one of the most highly recognized brand names across all product categories confirmed online reports that it will have to delay launching its next-gen PlayStation 3 because of problems mass-producing the console's built-in Blu-ray Disc player.
While the delay primarily affects PS3 shipments to Europe, Sony has acknowledged the production setback will noticeably limit the number of units to be sold in the United States and Japan--where a launch is still scheduled for November. This is not the first setback for a PS3 ramp up, intended to compete with Microsoft's Xbox 360, which has been on the market for several months and will offer an HD DVD player add-on this fall.
In the last month, Sony was hit with two recalls from Dell and Apple affecting nearly 6 million laptop batteries. Although the recalls are not directly related to its PS3 and Blu-ray production, Sony said the recalls could cost the firm more than $100 million to address.
Sony now plans to launch PS3 in Europe next March. Although the company still plans to ship up to 6 million PS3 units by early next spring, there are several published reports that say barely a 500,000 consoles with Blu-ray will be initially available in the United States and Japan by mid-November, in time for the important holiday season.
