Rumour: PlayStation 3 Getting Slimmed Down

According to UK tech mag T3, Sony may be planning for a thinner and lighter PlayStation 3, one in the vein of the PSone and slimline PlayStation 2. The rumoured hardware update, which T3 says is sourced from “a particularly well-informed insider” who spoke of the revision at CES, is speculated to arrive in autumn of this year. T3’s facts on the matter appear to be nil, with a “no comment” from Sony helping to clarify nothing. Mock-ups of the rumoured device have been created by T3 and published online.

While a tinier PS3 would be maybe attractive to some—the thing currently weighs in at a bulky 11 pounds—the arrival of such a revision this early makes almost no sense. The PlayStation took almost six years before it was given such a redesign and the PlayStation 2 trimmed down a good four years after its launch, both after reaching massive install base figures. To introduce new manufacturing processes 18 months in, while components are still being cost reduced to edge hardware closer to profitability, seems counterproductive to bleeding money on the thing.

In other words, we’re not buying it.

A Sony source tells us they’ve never heard of it and while that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, it seems unlikely. At least for now.

New Playstation 3 this autumn? [T3]