Sony backtracks on PlayStation 2 allocation pledge

Sony has admitted it won't be able to supply UK retailers with enough pre-Christmas PlayStation 2 consoles.

Last September, when Sony cut the number of PlayStation 2s allocated to the US from one million units to 500,000, it pledged Europe's allocation of 500,000 units would not be cut.

And today the Japanese giant changed its mind - at least as far as the UK is concerned. It's not known by how much Europe's allocation will be cut, but here in the UK the number of units shipped will be 165,000, down from 200,000, a cut of 17.5 per cent.

Sony said it will no longer accept pre-release orders in the UK, though existing pre-orders will be made good. The snag is, Sony won't say how many pre-orders it has had, but we suspect that it's recalculated the UK's allocation on the basis of what has already been sold.

Sony's problems getting enough PlayStation 2s out of its factories has already affected Europe. Earlier this year the company was forced to put back the European roll-out of the next-generation console from 26 October to 24 November in order to ensure the US launch - also set for 26 October - got enough consoles. Which the company then had to admit it wouldn't. ®

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