Sources in the Taiwanese component manufacturing industry claim that production for the PlayStation 4 is to begin by the end of this year, with a ship date sometime in 2012. Foxconn and Pegatron Technology, who already manufacture the PlayStation 3, are rumored to undertake this task as well, according to DigiTimes. The initial shipment will allegedly consist of 20 million units, which will have built-in Kinect-like recognition.
It’s important to keep in mind that these were the same two companies alleged to have the PS3 Slim contracts when that redesign was only a rumor. Sony dissed E3 to announce the system (and price cut) at GamesCom in 2009; I would not be surprised to see them do it again.
