Hadn't seen this before. Strange observation:

“This will be a marketing splash as much as anything else,” said one source. “It will get their name out there and show [consumers] that they are competitive with the other players. Inventory will be constrained, but [if customers can’t find the $399 PS3], maybe they’ll pay extra for another model.”

 http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6488196.html?desc=topstory

wow, this is really sad. He is either lying to that people hurry and pick it up, or they intentionally had low supply of 40 gigs because they know they lose more money when those are sold. It's the 20 gig all over again.

Does this include the UK?

And if so does this mean now or after the stacks of them piled up in every store near me are sold?

 From looking at the article I believe the person was commenting on US supply situation. 

They're probably announcing this to give people the impression that the system is in high demand ... If there is a supply problem it would be because of one of the following reasons:

1. The 40GB redesign was very recent and they have built up almost no supply
2. Demand is far greater than most of us would suspect
3. They're keeping supply limited to give the impression of high demand
4. They're keeping supply limited to drive sales to the more expensive system

With how they treated the 20GB I would suspect #4 ...

Lol, this is what (approximately) happened in the past 8 days in the town I live (in the '3000lb Gorilla shop')

day - starter packs sold - 40Gig sold 

1 - 4 - 0

2 - 8 - 0? (pile got bigger)

3 - 3 - 0? (pile got bigger)

4 - 2 (last in stock) - 1

5 - - 1 (sold in blu-ray area)

6 - (sold out city wide) - 1 

7 - -  0? (pile at max)

so after the rush for the starter pack was over, people are probably still hoping more starter packs will reappear and pass on the  40Gig version...

are these the same ppl who said ps3 will dominate?

no one could have predicted how bad ps3 has done.
no one could have predicted nintendo DS would be the fastest selling system in history.

its just funny how wrong ppl can be at times.

This article is full of WTF quotes:

1- "Retailers expect the $399 model to feature a Blu-ray Disc player"

Expect??

2- Sony is expected to put most of its energy into generating its higher-end models, as they offer a better return on investment.

Eh? They had months and months to build a stock of those models, why can't they focus on producing the 40 GB one now?

3- “This will be huge for Sony, because you have the Blu-ray player, and now you’re getting closer to the [entry model] price points of a 360 [$349] and Wii [$249],” the source added.

So it's huge, but they don't want to produce many so that people buy the higher priced models? Worst holiday strategy ever.

Conclusion:

If this article is anything to go by, Sony still has their gun firmly aimed at their feet.

Maybe selling factories to Toshiba slowed down supply of the Cell.

$1500 if we find some on the shelves, Sony?