Many gamers who have been searching desperately for a PlayStation 3 since the console's launch in North America on November 17 have come up empty-handed. A combination of high demand and low supply has resulted in nationwide sellouts of the console, many stores exhausting their initial supplies within minutes.

　　Gamers winced when Sony announced that only 400,000 units would be up for grabs in North America on launch day, but according to Bloomberg, even that number may have been optimistic.

　　Several industry analysts have come forward with the belief that Sony may have missed its shipment target by as much as 50 percent. Retail expert SooAnn Roberts told Bloomberg she believes that Sony won't ship more than 200,000 PS3s to North America by the end of the year. Other analysts predicted a similar shortfall prior to the console's launch last week.

　　Todd Mitchell of Kaufman Bros. Equity Research said the number of PS3s at launch was "even lower than expected," says Bloomberg. The news service also claims that several other analysts echo Mitchell's sentiments.

　　Sony representatives told Bloomberg, "We shipped as many PlayStation 3 units into the North American market as possible and continue our efforts in supplying systems to retailers nationwide through the holidays." The rep went on to claim that Sony is planning to ship 1 million PS3s to the US by the end of the year. Sony has previously said that it plans on shipping 2 to 2.4 million PS3s worldwide by 2007.