The 500GB PS3 which was, until a couple of months ago, the only variant in production in Japan has ended its production run.
According to the statement on the official PlayStation Japan website the PS3 500GB shipments has “ended”.
Earlier in the year, Sony’s site stated that “shipments are scheduled to end soon” for the 500GB PS3, which was at the time the only remaining PS3 in production in Japan.
India
In India, several retailers speaking to Gadgets 360 have confirmed that the 500GB PS3 has been unavailable for the better part of a year, while the 12GB variant has also been tough to get a hold of.
“We haven’t received any PS3 stock since November, and the demand hasn’t been there either. Not for the console nor the games,” an independent game store owner based in Delhi said,
It appears the axe has silently fallen on the PS3. which was launched in November 2006.
It was a tough sell after being announced with a $599 price point by Sony’s Kaz Hirai.
However, it managed to recover thanks to a host of solid exclusives and astute price cuts ending up selling close to 84 million units, with around 350,000 of them in India.