Rumors of a slim version of the PlayStation 3 are swirling again, with reports of two Taiwanese manufacturers getting ready to produce units to ship as soon as early July.
All but few of the many leaks prior to Sony’s press conference at E3 were confirmed (and good-heartedly joked about by Sony’s Jack Tretton). One of those leaks being the rumblings (and alleged photographs) of a slimmed-down version of the PS3. I assumed after Sony didn’t mention it that the arguably dubious photographs were fake, either that or Sony was saving the announcement for later this year, but according to the latest reports, the PS3 Slim may exist, and it may be coming extremely soon.
According to UDN.com (by way of Joystiq and Engadget’s translators), Sony has handed out contracts to two manufacturers in Taiwan to produce the PS3 Slim. Half of the orders are for Foxconn and the other half are going to Pegatron. The shipments, apparently, are due to go out in early July to meet “expected summer vacation demands.” Summer vacation in Japan is prime console buyin’ season.
Still seem fishy to you? Well, consider that Foxconn and Pegatron were the original manufacturers of the PS3, and previous, and entirely separate, rumors that reported the console would ship in August or September. Seems like it all fits together…perhaps a tad too conveniently. Not that I don’t want this to be real – I would welcome a slim PS3 into my arms just as warmly as I welcomed a slim version of its brother in appliances, the George Foreman Grill.
