What is it with console manufacturers? How is it that they all seem to be able to estimate demand but, in the lead up to the "The Holidays" they can never seem to estimate making enough machines available to buy?

Could it be bad inventory management? Or might it be that good old marketing idea of "You'd better buy yours now before supplies run out!"

Last year it was Nintendo (with Microsoft in January), this year it's Sony. The chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) Jack Tretton, while beaming away about being, "in good shape" to sell 10 million PS3s worldwide this year, told an interviewer, "I'd say we are able to meet somewhere between 80-90 percent demand, based on how things are trending".

Things are, apparently, trending "about 30 percent ahead of where we should be. So sales could slow down and we will still hit our number."

Maybe Jack could take some advice from Chris Lewis, VP of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business in Europe. Chris recently pointed out that Microsoft is "confident that even at this rate of growth we can keep retail satisfied with a steady supply of consoles throughout the Christmas season".

Or maybe someone in Sony's logistics department should have listened to Sir Howard Stringer (the boss) in when he said, "Consumers are purchasing our PlayStation 3 video game consoles faster than we can produce them"... back in August.

^{Source: Reuters}