Sony's PlayStation (PS) 4 may have trouble achieving shipments of 12-16 million units in 2013 as expected, as the related upstream supply chain has not yet received any shipment instructions from the Japan-based vendor, implying a possible delay in the game console's mass shipment schedule, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.
Sony originally told its upstream suppliers that it will start shipping its new PS4 game consoles in June with mass shipments scheduled in August, and shipment volumes would have a chance to reach 20 million units in 2013.
Because of handheld devices such as tablets, games consoles, which used to be the mainstream of the gaming market, have seen shrinking demand over the past few years with overall sales dropping 40% from the peak of 55 million units in 2008 to only 34 million units in 2012.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20130506PD202.html

I wouldn't worry about this. Sony will probably scale the launch to mitigate supply chain issues. The US will probably get the console first for the holiday rush, then Japan, and then Europe early next year. They will probably follow Microsoft's lead. With all the talk of a subsidized Xbox, that console will probably launch late around the world as they figure out these deals. Apple laid the track for all these issues since I never seen a company deal with a rabid fan base preordering devices so well.

Wait, the article compares console sales of an old system with phones/tablets that people buy every 2 years? Hah.

These days game consoles are not selling like hotcakes anyway.

There aren't going to be enough consoles for everyone who wants to buy one at launch?

Well, THAT'S never happened before.

a $400+ console won't sell a lot in today's market, so this isn't cause for concern.

A console shortage at launch? Don't be crazy.

I'd love an old-school run on Gamestops and such. Even though it turned out to be totally stupid, waiting outside in the snow all night to pick up a Wii was hell of fun.

12 million? That is a fuckton for 2013, especially since this thing will probably only be on sale for 8 weeks max if we get a November release. I am thinking 2 to 3 million is much better sales figure judging from other console launches and when you have another equally hotly anticipated console in the next Xbox, you got to account for competition here. But if we do get even 5 million, I am sure everyone who wants one, or at least is willing to be an early adopter and shell out the cash, will get one. I know I will be getting both unless E3 is total fucking mess for these guys.

I have been reading around that there is concern from developers about how many will be out there as this does affect sales of their launch games and games released soon after. The worry comes from the fact that they didn't give specifics on hardware, like the speed of the CPU and stuff like that. And that the box might still not actually be done. The controller is still not final either. They are cutting it close. As much heat the next xbox has gotten, many think production has already started on it and is on track and this could be confirmed if we get a final retail view of the box and controller itself.

Yes it will. That's extremely cheap, compared to past consoles. The economy is doing much better than people like to pretend.

Probably because there hasn't been a new one since 2006. The 2006 Honda Civic isn't in hot demand at the moment either. (The Wii U is in its own weird class).

Those seem like generous numbers either way. If Sony or MS can push more than ~6 million of these things in 2013 I'd be happily surprised. I'll be getting both on launch day(s).

That doesn't necessarily mean they won't launch by the end of the year right? Just that there wouldn't be as many systems to sell in retailers?

A lot has changed from 2005. People aren't going to lose themselves over a new console like they once did. The next gen isn't a massive jump like the old one was. Besides the "gotta have the new thing now" whores, the majority of consumers will slowly migrate to the new systems.

Expect a lot of articles about lower then expected demand in the near future.