Death of 60GB PS3 in doubt

Whether or not Sony will end production of the PS3 is now uncertain, say conflicting reports from Sony itself. While the PlayStation division's European spokesman David Reeves had previously claimed that the now $499 console would cease sales by the end of July, an unnamed spokesman for the American branch now says this report has been misinterpreted and that there are no short-term plans to cancel the system, which is now selling far more quickly than in recent months.

"We will have ample supplies of both models to meet the needs of our consumers for the foreseeable future," the spokesman says. "Those quotes from David Reeves are not accurate. He said that if they had lowered the price in Europe, that territory would have run out of their current inventory by the end of July."

Sony Computer Entertainment chief Kaz Hirai has disagreed with this statement, however, and has said in a Swedish interview that the 60GB PS3 is "no longer in production" and will cease to exist altogether when the last systems are sold. The American division is expected to clarify the statement soon.