While far from being commercially available, there are rumors that Asustek is shipping small quantities of PlayStation 3 units. As Sony and others begin to prepare for the high demand likely to come on the official release date (expected in November), it makes sense to have local distributors prepared with enough volume to meet the demand of all the local retailers. The number is small, with 200,000 pieces leaving Asustek last month, and a few million total planned.
In all likelihood, Sony will face the exact problem Microsoft did with supply. To help alleviate supply issues, Sony also has Foxconn in reserve to produce PS3s when demand justifies it.