The original Playstation 3 shipment target was set at 4 million units by the end of the year, with a further 2 million by March. Back in September Sony halved their target to 2 million and now the Japanese launch is to suffer with even more cuts.

The Japanese allocation was set for 100,000 consoles, but due to component shortages there will now only be 80,000 consoles available on November 11th. In the US, online retailers are suffering having offered units for pre-order when they had no idea whether Sony would be able to meet the target. Allocations at stores across the US are dropping with some retailers getting as few as 5 consoles. The North American launch was set to see 400,000 units hitting online stores and shops on November 17th, but these figures are now looking extremely difficult to meet.

Sony are blaming a shortage in parts for the Blu-ray disc drive.

Meanwhile, Nintendo are still on target to reach their target of 4 million Wii consoles by the end of 2006.