The ops title is misleading. The 4 million shipment number refers to a part for the ps3 of which there may be more than one per console. "Sales of time division synchronizers used in PS3 have also increased, and shipments are expected to top four million units per month in the third quarter"

The article actually suggests 1 million consoles per month in the third quarter. "with average monthly volume enough for making one million units of the games console in the third quarter, double the average in the second quarter"

I was just thinking the exact same thing.

4 million components per month, with which they can produce 1 million PS3s per month is what I got from the text.

That doesn't seem so outlandish to me.

But I wonder when they will be used. How long does it take for a newly manufactured PS3 to go into sales? Are these units produced for holidays? Then 4M in 4 month are less than last year.

from the article:
"with average monthly volume enough for making one million units of the games console in the third quarter"

so where the hell does 4m/month PS3's come from?

4M per month? They can't be talking about a PS3.

If there even IS a slim, don't you think it'll most likely be MORE expensive? Miniaturization ADDS to costs, doesn't it? And if that's true, wouldn't it be stupid to drop the price of the phat? If they did that, the phats would sell out quick, but then they'd be left with a more expensive slim model that sells even slower.

Did that even make sense?

As chip makers upgrade to smaller architectures they save money due to the fact that wafers are expensive. Smaller architecture chips are more efficient (they require less electricity and produce less heat). The end result of the change to a smaller architecture is a smaller/cheaper mobo, power supply, and cooling system. The console manufacturer could keep the console fat (with a large area of empty space within the case), but the reduced cost of shipping/materials + a spike in sales (akin to a colour change) are attractive to the console maker.

You are not the only one who thinks the Slim will be more expensive like the PS2 slim.

PS3 slim 399$/ Regular PS3 299$(pricedrop).

That is what I think.

They probably meant four million for the whole quarter. They won't get 4 million sales in DECEMBER, let alone November and October.

EDIT: I hope they meant Q3 of the fiscal year, and not the calendar year...they won't even get near 4 million in the whole of Q3!

@ skip )

Still the initial costs are higher, as they have R&D and marketing costs aswell as higher costs due to switching to a different production and likely initially lower amount of produced units (= higher costs per unit) to cover. After maybe 4-6 month they should be able to produce and ship the Slim at a lower price than the Phat version, yes.

@ Kantor )

Afaik electronic devices usually are produced several weeks to months before they are sold. Production in Q3 calendar year could be mainly used for Q4 calendar year sales, no?