HappySqurriel on 24 January 2008
There is no way to know, but I personally suspect ...
Sony really did not intend to release the PS3 in 2006 the (unexpected) release of the XBox 360 in 2005 forced Sony to accelerate their release schedule; I suspect that when the XBox 360 was first rumored to be released mid 2005 Sony became worried that 18 to 24 months on the market with no (direct) competition could give Microsoft the opportunity to eat away a big chunk of Sony's marketshare.
If it was released for Q4 of 2007, the PS3 would have been more powerful and less expensive due to the 65nm process, Blu-Ray diodes would be less expensive and more people would be looking for a Blu-Ray player, and HDTV adoption would be higher.
