kanariya has pointed out what I believe is the reason for the PS3's poorly timed launch. Sony likely decided they couldn't win the format war without the PS3 so they started sellling it a year too early. Plus, letting the 360 become established wouldn't have made Sony very happy either. Still, had they waited a year they could have launched at a reasonable price ($400).

Honestly, many things about the PS3 would have made more sense had it been released in late 2008 rather than late 2006 ...

Basically, because of the way semiconductor technology works, they would have been able to release a system which was much more powerful and was lower cost simply because they had smaller manufacturing processes; Blu-Ray would have lost the format war (or they would have been forced to co-operate on a single format) but the format would be more established and far less expensive to include in a player.

The only real questions would be, how difficult would it be for Sony to deal with the XBox 360 had they given them a 3 year head start in North America and Europe, and would Nintendo's success with the Wii prevent the PS3 from being successful?

If ps2 was as powerful as lets say...the first xbox...then sony could have waited until christmas 2008 maybe to release a ps3 80gb with BC for 399. They would have lost far less money as well as has enough games developed to squash any "ps3 doesn't have software" statements.

But as things stand...I don't think PS2 was powerful enough to last to 2008. Consumers would have just moved on...hell they already did in NA. The 360 was outselling ps2 software wise within a year...

If they did, Xbox360 would have gained even more ground, and dampen PS2's glory, therefore, making it even harder for the PS3 to sell if it launched in 2010..

I've had this argument with several buddies from work. I'd like to agree but then I remember that Sony is a corporation that absolutely raped MS and Nintendo last time around...they probably thought about all of this before you and I.

December 2007 would have been my release date and i would have had a single 40gig SKU with 2 USB ports, taken out the integrated wireless internet, software BC like the 360 with 80% of playback of PS2 games that would be improved through firmware in the future and sold it for $400 (Sony's cost would have roughly been $500 - $600 by my guess, so they would have lost a lot less on each system)

that is retarded

it wasnt timing more like pricing and innovating

Yahh they should have let their competitors build a huge lead, brilliant.

 I think I should of ignored this post...

The PS3 has sold over 14million.  The 360 had this amount in Novermber 2007.  If the PS3 is in such bad shape, how'd it reach that mark almost 4 months earlier?  Selling $200 more than the cheapest XBox 360?