The PS3 is nearing its end as Japanese production stops

Sony is on the verge of halting PS3 production in Japan.

Gematsu reports that the Japanese product page for the 500GB charcoal black PS3 reveals that manufacturing of the device will come to an end soon”. As the only PS3 currently in production for the region, that ultimately means the console will come to an end.

Indications from retail are that the final supplies for the machine will be shipped out this month.

The writing has been on the wall for PS3 after Sony started cutting the device off from certain services. In August, for instance, it will be cut loose by PS Now streaming, as will the Vita.

Sony had previously said that it expected PS3 to have a ten year product cycle, as so it will be – the console launched in Japan and America in 2006 before arriving in Europe in early 2007.

There were three iterations of the console in total. The launch model, early examples of which contained native PS2 emulation, was three years after launch superseded by a Slim redesign. This itself was surprisingly followed up by what most refer to as the Super Slim variant just a year later.

Lifetime PS3 sales are believed to have reached in the region of 84m units, which is about level pegging with Microsoft’s Xbox 360. That does, however, leave it shy of its predecessors.

It was only in January 2013 that Sony has confirmed that it has ceased all production of the mighty PlayStation 2.

The world’s most successful ever home console ended its innings after 12 years and with global sales of over 150m units and an unprecedented software library nearing 11,000 titles. Lifetime PS2 game sales are estimated at over 1.5bn units. The original PlayStation also sold over 100m units.

Only Nintendo’s DS can match Sony’s machine in terms of unit sales. Even the mighty Game Boy doesn’t come close.