Interactive Investor's industry analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, Evan Wilson, weighed in on the Xbox 360 launch and expects the same delays with the launch of the PS3.
The delays he expects are not related to shipping just as the Xbox360's were, but he expects the same chip manufacturing problems. Delays in chip manufacturing could spell the same shortages that both the US and EU territories experienced at and after the Xbox360 launch.
Shortages or not, Mr. Wilson has predicted that the PS3 will launch in North America in November 2006 with about one million units available at launch to be followed by a European launch in March 2007. Wilson stated that the Japanese launch of the PS3 would occur in the early summer. This strategy would follow the tried true time frame that Sony has used for the past two console generations.
Analyst Background: Mr. Wilson is a consumer electronics industry expert , with a concentration in interactive entertainment and the retail environment, recently receiving honorable mention in Institutional Investor’s 2005 All-American Research Team in the gaming and software categories. He has appeared on CNBC, and is often quoted in The New York Times, Bloomberg News and Business Week.
