Analyst halves PS3 shipment expectations

Sony shares fall as analyst cuts PlayStation 3 shipment expectations from 6 million to 3 million.

Mitsubishi UFJ Securities analyst Masahiko Ishino made the revised forecast in a note to investors. Sony plans to ship 6 million PlayStation 3 units by the end of March 2007, but Ishino believes the real figure will be half that.

A Sony representative made a statement to GameSpot, confirming the company's goal to ship 6 million units: "SCE has not changed its shipment schedule and is still on target to ship 2 million by launch window, 4 million by the end of this year, and 6 million by the end of FY 06," said the Sony rep.

With Sony failing to make any kind of noise about the PlayStation 3 at this week's Games Convention in Leipzig, the company seems to be waiting for the Tokyo Game Show (September 22-24) to make a big splash. With many details about the PlayStation 3 and its software still to be answered, Sony surely can't afford to keep gamers in the dark for much longer.