Coming as absolutely no surprise following the news we've heard about Sony's manufacturing woes with the PlayStation 3, they are facing a shortage of units available for launch in Japan. Originally planning to ship 100,000 units by November 11th, only 80,000 will make it. That's only about a tenth of the number of PlayStation 2 units that were shipped and sold during the it's Japan launch six years ago.
Despite all the bad press the PlayStation 3 has received, demand for it is high - even pre-orders are being exhausted quickly and many companies have opted to remain out of preordering altogether. Even that 20% lack in Japan will impact quite a few people if the trend continues. Perhaps if Sony can solve their production issues, demand will surge. The PS3 is now only a few weeks out, and Sony will get the chance to prove if all their headaches over the console have been worth it.