UPDATE: Sony Vague on Shipment Quantity, Not Date

To update a story we ran on Friday, it appears that the PlayStation 3's launch date isn't in question; the console will still launch on November 17th as previously reported. What is in question, however, is exactly how many consoles the world will see by the end of this year. The launch quantities of 400,000 (North America) and 100,000 (Japan) haven't changed, but recent comments by SCEA co-chairman Jack Tretton seems to say that the 2 million console mark Sony hopes to hit by year's-end is more of a goal than set in stone.

"The honest answer is it's more of a target. Clearly we've had production issues."

So, it's possible that we won't see 2 million PS3s by the end of the year, meaning that demand in the US and Japan will be much, much higher than the supply. Does this also mean that Europe will also suffer a second delay due to the console shortage? All eyes are on Sony at this juncture, as any more delays could give an advantage to the competition.

[via IGN]