Can Sony's new console really launch next year?
DigiTimes is citing Taiwanese manufacturing sources that suggest that Sony is actively working on PlayStation 4 and that the new console is set to be released in 2012 with an initial shipment of "at least" 20 million consoles. Amazingly, the report suggests that manufacturing will begin this year.
Little is being given away on the make-up of the new machine other than the idea that it boasts body-tracking technology along the lines of Microsoft's Kinect for Xbox 360. The source says that the console is being assembled by Foxconn and Pegatron Technologies in Taiwan, and reckons that the current PS3 is also being handled by the same manufacturers.
It's an interesting story, but on the face of it, the basic notion of a true next-gen PlayStation releasing within 18 months is ludicrous. PlayStation 3 has only become profitable for Sony relatively recently and the platform holder will be hoping for a substantial period of time in which to recoup the enormous losses they have incurred this console generation. In the here and now, PlayStation 3 has yet to dip below �199, where we would expect sales volumes to increase significantly. Closing this window of opportunity prematurely doesn't really make sense from any kind of commercial perspective.
Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-in-theory-can-ps4-launch-in-2012
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