Shortages spoil Sony game plan

Shares in Sony fell sharply in Tokyo yesterday amid fears that a components shortage could hit next month's US launch of PlayStation2…

Shares in Sony fell sharply in Tokyo yesterday amid fears that a components shortage could hit next month's US launch of PlayStation2. Sony Computer Entertainment, the group's games arm, warned on Wednesday that it had been forced to halve the size of its US launch because of components shortages. It is a huge blow for Sony, which had planned to engineer the largest consumer electronics launch in US history during the run-up to Christmas.