Its not unhear of. I heard some figure like 12-13% of PS3s have had non-user related problems and needed repairs. Nowhere near the some 40-50% of XBOX360 and RROD, but still high enough to have a good chance for someone who uses the device a lot to need repairs.
Frankly, with how hot the PS3 gets, I almost expect mine to blow up someday. And I have the 160 GB Slim model. Then again, I still have a gen 2 PS2 and after 10 years it still works...











