The majority prefer a cheaper product, thus explaining why the Wii is sold out - unlike the PSTriple.

Does it hurt you that most people don't buy your console of choice?

I honestly believe that Sony didn't want the 20GB to be successful so they kept supply low ...

Now, there could be many reasons for this but I suspect they wanted to advertize that the PS3 was $500 but they didn't want the 20GB model to exist in the long run because it lacked "important" features for Sony.

It is obvious that both Sony and Microsoft want to push downloadable content (videos and games) in order to increase the ammount of money they make; Sony probably wants to push for a lot of HD content (1080p trailers for Blu-Ray movies as an example) and it is probably difficult to convince people to supply you with content when a user can only have a couple of files on their hard-drive at a time.

The other important feature is probably WiFi. This isn't because of internet access (although that is part of it, a WiFi system in your home entertainment center is probably far more likely to get hooked up to the net) but is for PSP connectivity. The Gamecube-GBA connectivity provided a lot of potential for developers but wasn't utilized all that much because few people were willing to buy a cable to connect the systems. If a publisher is thinking of including features in their PS3 games that take advantage of the PSP they want to know that anyone who already owns both systems can readily take advantage of the feature.

Anyways ... I expect that they made a mistake because they could (potentially) boost current sales by 10-20% if the 20GB model was readily available and I anticipate that if there was a price drop ($400 for 20GB)  the 20GB model would probably account for 30% (or more) of sales.

I cannot speak for every area but I assure you after the PS3 was launch down here in south florida the 60 gigs dissapeared and the 20 gigs were always the last to go. This trend went on for pretty much 3 months and then after that the 20 gigs dissapeared all together.

I have only met one person in my travels down here that said they wanted a 20 gig. On the internet the only people I see attacking sony over this 20 gig issues, seem to be people who would not have purchased one anyways. I am sorry... there is a difference between actions and talks. and if the 20 gigs moved slower than the 60 gigs why on earth should any retailer waste storage space (which comes out of their pockets) on th 20 gig system?

I really don't know, but I have only heard of 20GB models being sold at launch and (since mid-december) I was seeing 60GB models show up in stores. The simple fact is that if Sony was producing them at a constant rate (as compared to the 60GB model) and the 60GB model was (relative to production) more popular you should have seen the 20GB available in stores at a disproportionate level as compared to the 60GB model.

It might also be because the vast majority of console owners aren't people that spend time on the internet, spamming on console war subjet.

Casual gamers are just peoples that wait for the console they want to reach the price point they can affort. And by this choice, Sony may have to wait longer before it can cut the price to this selling point. Going from 500 to 300 (or even lower) is hard, from 600 to 300 harder.

But maybe Sony realise they won't hit casual gamers as much as the PS2 (and now the Wii) did, so like MS, they're trying to get as much as they can from the hardcore market.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/779/779976p1.html

BTW the 20 gig is still being manufactured and sold in japan. That should probably balance out perspective here.

EDIT: Happy you could be right but if the 20 gigs were only 20% of the initial shipment and I continued to run into them for a couple of months than I think there is something wrong. Maybe the slow sales of the lower SKU helped in this decision. And you know Sony would get attacked even more for having both 20 and 60 gigs in abundance. 

The 20 GB still exists in Japan probably because Sony needs to maintain the idea of having the lower price point, since the 360 is a non-factor there.  In NA/EU, 360 acts almost like a price bridge from Wii to PS3, but in Japan it's a direct comparison since you pretty much see only Wii or PS3.

If the 360 is a non-factor there.... how does that logic make sense? There  is still a very large jump between the Wii and the PS3.

Here, the PS3 isn't that much more than the 360, especially taking the HD-DVD drive into account. So just having the 60GB model doesn't look like such a bad deal.

Yet in Japan, with the 360 in a niche right now, the price difference between the Wii and PS3 is huge, especially since the Wii doesn't come with Wii Sports there, so it only costs as much as the GC (when it launched). So by having the 20GB around, and sold at less than it is here (about $450), the PS3 doesn't look so expensive.