SCEA ramps up PS2 production

In an interview with Reuters Television, Kaz Harai, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said that the company plans to ramp up the production of the PlayStation 2 console in order to meet consumer demand during the holidays. Sony will ramp up PS2 production from the current 1.8 million units a month to 2 million units a month. The Japanese PlayStation 2 has been manufactured at the 2 million units a month pace since in the summer of 2000. Harai further reiterated previous SCEA comments by saying that the company has no plans to drop the price of its console this year.

"We're very comfortable with the [$299] price point,'' Harai said.

Sony expects to ship 10 million units of the PlayStation 2 in North America by March 2002. On a worldwide basis, it has shipped a little more than 19 million units to date. However, to this point, the PlayStation 2 has not had any challengers in its specific sector. The company will finally face competition in the console market this holiday season, when Microsoft launches its Xbox and Nintendo releases the GameCube.